Search "Bao's Pastry Guangzhou" and you will eventually run into a warning that local food bloggers keep repeating: not every shop with that yellow signage and those familiar characters is the real thing. Bao's Pastry (龚师傲, Bao Shifu) is one of the most copied bakery brands in China, and Guangzhou has had its share of imitators cashing in on the queues. This guide covers which branches are genuine, what is actually worth queueing for, current prices, and a few things worth knowing before you show up hungry.
Quick Facts
The Story Behind Bao's Pastry
Bao's Pastry was founded in Beijing in 2004 by Bao Caisheng, a baker from Zixi County in Jiangxi, a region long known for producing bakers across China. The shop opened under the name "Baozai Bakery" and was renamed Bao's Pastry the following year. What built the brand's reputation was not marketing but a specific product: Xiaobei, a small sponge sandwich cake, most famously topped with savoury pork floss and mayonnaise cream. By 2021, that single item had sold over 100 million units in a year. By 2023, annual sales across the brand had passed 200 million units, and Bao's Pastry had expanded into more than 100 stores across over 40 Chinese cities.
The brand's open-kitchen policy is part of the draw. Every branch bakes in full view of the queue, which the company treats as a trust signal in a food market where scandals over ingredients and freshness are common. Whether that fully explains the queues or not, it has become part of the shopping experience itself: watching the trays come out of the oven while you wait.
Why Guangzhou Has Fake Bao's Pastry Shops
Where to Find Bao's Pastry in Guangzhou
Genuine branches are concentrated in Tianhe and Yuexiu, both easy to reach by metro. Locations do shift over time in Chinese retail, so treat addresses as a strong starting point and confirm on a map app before making a special trip. If you're planning to hit more than one branch in a day, our Guangzhou Metro route planner can map the fastest order to visit them in.
What to Order
The menu rotates seasonally, but a handful of items are the reason people queue in the first place.
Dietary Notes: Pork Floss, Halal, and Vegetarian Visitors
The brown, cotton-like topping on Xiaobei and several other items is pork floss, not a plant-based ingredient, and it appears in more of the range than first-time visitors expect. This makes a meaningful share of the menu unsuitable for halal or vegetarian diets. Staff can usually point out which items are floss-free, but reading the display labels or asking directly before ordering is the safer approach if you are avoiding pork.
Visiting Tips
- Go for the fresh batch, not the display case. The open-kitchen setup means trays come out at intervals; if a queue suddenly grows, it is usually because a fresh batch just landed.
- Late afternoon tends to be busiest, particularly at the Beijing Road and Taikoo Hui branches, where after-work and after-school crowds overlap.
- Buy a small mixed box first. Most branches sell mixed boxes of 6 to 10 pieces, a better way to sample the range than committing to a full box of one flavour.
- Items do not keep well. The cream filling in Xiaobei is best eaten within a few hours; this is not a souvenir pastry for a long flight home.
Nearby While You're There
The Beijing Road branch sits inside one of Guangzhou's busiest shopping and nightlife strips; if you're making an evening of it, our Guangzhou nightlife guide covers the surrounding bars and night markets. For getting between branches across Tianhe and Yuexiu, see our Guangzhou Metro guide, and for a full overview of the city's neighbourhoods, our Guangzhou city guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Check the shopfront for the small text "龚才胜原创" (Bao Caisheng Original) beneath the main sign. Copycat shops in Guangzhou have used near-identical yellow branding without this mark.
Rousong Xiaobei, a soft sandwich cake topped with savoury pork floss and cream, is the item that built the brand's reputation and the one most first-time visitors are pointed toward.
Not consistently. Many signature items, including the classic Xiaobei, contain pork floss. Some egg tart and cake varieties are floss-free, so check with staff or the display labels before ordering if you are avoiding pork.
Individual pastries run ¥6 to ¥15 each, with most visitors spending ¥20 to ¥30 on a small mixed selection.
The first authentic branch opened at 240 Tianhe Road, opposite Taikoo Hui near Exit B of Shipaiqiao metro station, and remains one of the busiest locations in the city.
Not really. The cream and floss toppings are best eaten within a few hours of purchase, so treat this as a same-day snack rather than a packable souvenir.
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