Chinese people eat more and more bread, especially in urban areas, rising the average bread consumption per inhabitantfrom 2.2 kg / inhabitant / year in 2010to 5 kg in 2015. Young people, white collars and kids appreciate bread while older people still consider bread as foreign food and would only occasionally eat. This is an excellent news for Expatriates, who usually come from countries where bread consumption is much higher: it should be easier and easier to find baked goods in China… and we can also expect the quality to improve!
Chinese people usually prefer soft bread (the recipe includes fat and sugar, which gives soft texture, like a brioche), but are more and more open to European breads with hard crust and / or grains & seeds, as well as wholegrain flours. This could be explained by the fact that more and more Chinese people are travelling abroad, getting exposed to different types of breads (Europe, but also Japan and Taiwan, where European breads are widely accepted by the population).
Bread is also considered as an alternative toquick meals for Chinese people: breads can replace the traditional youtiao and the mantou eaten at breakfast and sandwiches are much easier to eat than a bowl of noddles for Chinese office workers.
As regarding cakes, the Chinese traditional cake is full of cream (too often non-dairy cream), colors and if the design / appearance is usually incredible (not saying attractive for Western people), the taste is seldom wonderful. However, again, products offered in the market gradually evolve and we can find fair quality from some recognized cake shops. More and more imported ingredients are available, allowing Chinese cake factories to produce Tiramisu with an authentic mascarpone or good quality chocolate.
You can find breads in most convenience stores (7-11 for example), localsupermarkets (Jingkelong, Wu-mart ….) and imported goods supermarkets (Jenny Lou, Jenny Wang, April Gourmet…) and hypermarkets (Carrefour, Walmart, Metro…).
Industrial breads / packed breads are produced by large industries, like Mankattan or Bimbo for example. The quality is more or less equivalent to what you can find back in your home country.
Supermarkets and hypermarkets usually have a bakery section with variable quality depending on the branch and on the brand.
For thoselooking for freshly baked breads and cakes, like you can find back in your home country, it is easier and easier to find good quality breads in Beijing – even the market is not yet as developed as Shanghai. Here is a list of bakery shops available in Beijing.
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