Zang Chaiyuan has recently been working deep into the night because people are lined up for her steamed buns （馒头）. The 25-year-old girl from Yantai, Shandong Province, has turned flour （面粉） into a gold mine（矿） by putting modern elements （元素）into "Jiaodong huabobo", a popular traditional food dating back more than 300 years.
Huabobo is a flower—shaped steamed bun, which has been a treat at many folk（民俗） activities, such as celebrations and festivals.
Zang shaped huabobo by hand. And these shapes change from cute rabbits dressed in lion dance costumes to treasure bowls and lucky bags, among others.
Although Zang did a good job on humbobo, her parents believed that young people should find a steady（稳定的） job. They even thought huabobo was better for more elderly women to make.
However, she still kept making huabobo. After Lang graduated from the Yantai University in 2018, she had an idea to start up her own business.
She loved huabobo in her childhood. "My grandmother used to make huabobo. They were in all kinds of shapes, which were very beautiful , " Zang says. She then set her eyes on huabobo at the beginning of 2020. At first, she learned from an experienced huaboho master about the basic skills and then practiced over and over again on her own. It did't take long before Zang got the whole process down to a fine art.
With a little more than 10, 000 yuan of her own savings, Zang opened her small huabobo shop in Yantai. Many of her followers came to buy her huabobo and praised that they are too cute to be eaten. Zang has held training classes at her shops and shot a video for those that live far away.
"Many have shown great interest in picking up huabobo skills, especially women who have just become mothers, "she says. "I love traditional Chinese culture and I believe that this art work is worth spreading. "
