When it comes to carbohydrates, just about everyone in southern China prefers a bowl of rice to anything else. However, some people have recently had a change of heart and are starting to eat bread. That is why bakeries are popping up all over Guangzhou. 'Many local customers come here to buy bread because it's more nutritious,' said Wang Qian Yu, from the bakery at the Grand Palace Hotel near the East Train Station. 'A lot of people like to eat it for breakfast.' According to Grand Palace Hotel chef Sunny Li, rye bread is the hottest item, at 4.5 yuan per loaf. 'It's more nutritious than other breads,' he said. Some privately owned bakeries have also opened up to meet the demands of a growing expat and local consumer market. Taiwanese-owned Casa Mia bakery, off Tianhe Dong Road, is one such shop. 'The first month I was here, I only used up one bag of flour to make bread,' said owner David Bai. 'Slowly, more people started coming.' He now uses 100 bags of flour a day to fill orders from customers, including those from consulate offices as well as locals. Mr Bai, who trained and worked in Germany, has about a dozen bakers under his command who produce a plethora of baked goods such as French baguettes, raisin bread, doughnuts and chocolate-chip cookies. Locals, it seems, love his garlic bread. While bread stores have been in Guangzhou for a while, more shops are now using imported ingredients, which affects the flavour. Mr Li uses yeast from France, while Mr Bai uses only New Zealand butter. Years ago, the only place to get a western-style loaf was in big hotels that had a resident western chef. Now, more local bakeries are giving the big hotels a run for their money. The interesting part of this phenomenon is that it is not expat driven. In cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, there is a large contingent of western expats who naturally drive the business. In Guangzhou, however, more locals are leading the trend.
