Tea, Food, Leaves, Receive and Harmony

Tea, Food, Leaves, Receive and Harmony

　　　　The establishment of Tea, Food, Leaves, Receive and Harmony is closely related to Daoxiangcun. The founder, Ye Hongnian, was a wealthy businessman from Cixi, Zhejiang, during the Guangxu era of the Qing Dynasty. One day while traveling in Suzhou, having long heard that Daoxiangcun’s sweets were extremely delicious, he bought a dozen or so tea snacks to stave off his hunger. But Daoxiangcun’s business was simply too booming, and the staff looked down on customers—serving those with larger orders first. After waiting for quite a while, Ye Hongnian couldn’t hold back and scolded the staff. In response, one of them retorted, “If you want it fast, go open your own shop.”　　

　　Determined to take that insult as motivation, Ye Hongnian opened a tea snack shop on the bustling Guanqian Street, naming it “Ye Shouhe” (literally “Ye Receives Harmony”). Because he had opened the shop after being slighted, he was determined to offer his customers warm and harmonious service. The tea snacks at Ye Shouhe also primarily featured Suzhou-style confections, and later incorporated flavors from his native Ningbo.

　　Signature treats include pine nut jujube paste sesame cakes, small square cakes, cloud-sliced cakes, four-color sliced cakes (rose, almond, pine pollen, and moss vegetable), and infant formula cakes. Later products such as bean crunch toffee and hibiscus crisp were also outstanding.

　　Today, Ye Shouhe operates with a semi-open supermarket-style model. The central circular, traditional-style counter is filled with various colorful specialty snacks. Even for the same product, there are different weights and packaging styles, allowing visitors to freely choose based on their needs. One side of the store features a loose candy counter—if you’re eating it yourself or don’t care about fancy packaging, you can save a lot on “presentation” costs here. The other side is a counter with various types of noodle-based snacks and pastries, laid out similarly to popular modern Western-style bakeries, except that the pastries here blend both Chinese and Western elements, making you want to try some fresh and creative varieties.

　　Address: No. 69 Guanqian Street

　　Phone: 67709603

　　Business hours: 8:30—9:00

　　Accessible via bus routes 202, 204, 923, and 529.