TAIAN, China, Feb. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- 

December 28, leaven the dough;

December 29, Steam the bun.

This folk song conveys the traditional Spring Festival customs of northern China.

Steamed bun carries Shandong people's deep affection for traditional local culture. Making buns, steaming buns, and eating buns are the most common things for Shandong people. Now, with the continuous improvement of economic level and the populace aesthetic, the flower steamed buns with exquisite shape, lifelike appearance and beautiful implication become more and more popular.

As the Spring Festival approaches, Mount Taishan Flower Steamed Bun, the intangible cultural heritage of Tai'an, has entered the sales peak season of this year.

Flower steamed buns, also known as Flour Flower, has a history of over 1000 years. During festivals and family happy occasions, people often make flower steamed buns, which not only add a strong New Year flavor but also indicate good wishes for a more thriving life. Therefore, making flower steamed buns has also become a characteristic folk custom in Tai'an. A series of products, such as birthday congratulations for the elderly, opening celebrations, wedding celebrations, holiday gift boxes, etc. have gained a favorable reception among customers, and are known as Chinese cakes with stories. The Mount Taishan Flower Steamed Bun participated in the "Good Women Products" exhibition in the nine provinces and regions along the Yellow River in 2021 and was rated as "Good Women Products" in Shandong Province. In 2023, it was approved as the intangible cultural heritage of Tai'an.

The entire process of making Flower Steamed Bun is divided into 9 steps: dough making, dough kneading, buns making, dough growth, decoration, dough awakening, and bun steaming. Nowadays, the traditional craftsmanship of Flower Steamed Bun is optimized with electric power, and the addition of electrical equipment such as dough machines, dough presses, and electric steamers makes the traditional craftsmanship of manual pounding and kneading integrate perfectly with modern electric power.

"The key to the taste of steamed bun lies in the process of making dough."said Master Zheng Tao, who works for the "Farmer Girl" Mount Taishan Flower Steamed Bun, "Making dough was absolutely a strenuous job in the past. You have to knead the dough constantly while adding dry flour repeatedly, so that the steamed buns can taste good. Now with the use of dough mixer and dough pressing machine, the quality of dough is guaranteed and the efficiency is greatly improved as well."

Wang Judong, who is in charge of "Farmer Girl" Mount Taishan Flower Steamed Bun, said, "We had to stop taking new orders in the middle of December in previous years, due to the limited production. But now orders have been booked into the next year because of the use of electric steaming cars, wake-up counters and other electrical equipment. The humidity and temperature can be controlled more accurately, and the fermentation of dough has become more even, so the quality and output have been significantly improved. At present, most of the products are based on the Lunar New Year's zodiac 'Dragon Soaring' gift boxes and date buns. There are also some smaller Flower Steamed Bun, such as the classic hit money cornucopia, blessing bags, Koi fish, and so on, reposing all the good wishes for the New Year..." 

"When Spring Festival comes, the power load of the pasta workshops and Steamed Bun shops will increase significantly. Our power supply center will do a good preparation in advance in the patrol inspection and defect elimination of power lines and power distribution equipment. At the same time, we organize staff to provide on-site services, providing all-round 'physical examination' for the power utilization of pasta workshops and enterprises to ensure the reliable power supply for these customers." said Tan Wenli, the urban power supply center of State Grid Xintai Power Supply Company. She also told us that because of the great fame and many orders of the "intangible cultural heritage" of "Farmer Girl" Mount Taishan Flower Steamed Bun,the demand for electricity becomes higher and higher. So the supporting power supply facilities are the focus of the patrol inspection, and every time the operation of electrical equipment and lines are checked repeatedly and carefully.

At present, "Farmer Girl" Mount Taishan Flower Steamed Bun has carried out skills training in 52 communities of the 21 townships at Xintai City in Tai'an, promoting the employment and self-entrepreneurship of the township women. State Grid Taian Power Supply Company has included the processing of flower buns in various townships of Xintai in its special service archives. On some important occasions such as traditional festivals, special service teams are established to proactively provide on-site services, ensuring the security and reliability of electricity utilization in flower steamed bun processing and production.