Lao Dingfeng Food Factory Lao Dingfeng Food Factory (store) was built in 1912, during the golden age of the development of my country's national industry and commerce. A few years later, Lao Dingfeng, a small enterprise, quickly developed into a well-known factory store in Harbin's food industry. Before I took over Lao Dingfeng, Lao Dingfeng had been operating hard for more than 20 years from its inception to its heyday, and made great contributions to the enrichment and development of Harbin's pastry industry. However, in the five years from 1938 to 1943, it finally closed down and went bankrupt because it could not get rid of the economic oppression of the Japanese puppet regime, leaving only an empty factory and an empty store. After I took over Lao Dingfeng, it was unable to produce due to lack of raw materials. It was not until after the restoration that production began to be gradually resumed, but it was only a recovery, and there was no development at all. After the liberation of Harbin, Lao Dingfeng really embarked on a steady development path. With the support of the Party's policy of protecting national industry and commerce, developing production, and restoring the national economy, Lao Dingfeng has continued to develop and expand through the national economic recovery period and the socialist transformation period, as well as the reform and opening up after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, and finally became a famous enterprise in Harbin's food industry. "Lao Dingfeng" is a time-honored brand with a history of more than 200 years. Legend has it that during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong, who went to the south of the Yangtze River for the second time, tasted the delicious snacks of a jam shop in Shaoxing and granted the fruit shop the name "Lao Dingfeng". Since then, Lao Dingfeng Fruit Shop in Shaoxing, Zhejiang has become famous all over the world and has blossomed everywhere. Many Lao Dingfeng branches have been established in Xi'an, Suzhou, Jinhua, Ningbo, Shenyang, Changchun, etc. These Lao Dingfeng branches are all joint stores, not joint stores. Although they operate independently, they can help each other in business dealings and regard each other as one family. In the early years of the Republic of China, Wang Ada and Xu Xinting, who were from Shaoxing, Zhejiang, came to Harbin. The two of them invested a total of 2,400 taels of silver and opened Harbin Lao Dingfeng Southern Flavor Warehouse on Zhengyang Street in Fujiadian. It was a store in front and a factory in the back. The store mainly sold southern-style dried and fresh foods and local specialties, while the factory produced small batches of southern-style snacks and sold them in its own store. At that time, Harbin pastry workshops all used hanging ovens to bake food, but Lao Dingfeng introduced the portable ovens that were popular in the south to Harbin. This portable oven bakes evenly, and the baked snacks have good color and high quality, but the oven plate is small and is only suitable for baking small batches of fine foods. When Lao Dingfeng opened, there were only two portable ovens, and each oven could only bake three to five pounds of moon cakes or four to five taels of biscuits at a time, and could only produce one or two hundred pounds of pastries a day. At that time, Harbin citizens were not used to eating southern-style snacks, and the market was full of Western and Beijing-style snacks. Wang Ada and Xu Xinting did not rush to expand the production of southern-style dim sum to compete with Beijing and western pastries. Instead, they insisted on making fine and high-quality southern-style dim sum in small batches and putting them on the market so that Harbin citizens could gradually get used to southern-style dim sum. During this period, Lao Dingfeng Southern Flavor Storehouse mainly dealt in famous local flavors from all over the south, such as Jinhua ham, Suzhou meat floss, Nanjing pressed duck, Sichuan bacon, Fujian orange cake, Changzhou melon strips, Songhua preserved eggs, as well as tobacco, wine, sugar, tea, canned food, etc. At the same time, they also made some southern sausages, tripe, smoked chicken and other foods. In this way, more than half of Lao Dingfeng's early business was wholesale and retail of various southern-style famous products, and the proportion of homemade pastries was very small. The pastry factory seemed to be just an embellishment of the Southern Flavor Storehouse. In the early 1920s, Lao Dingfeng attracted the interest of Harbin consumers with its exclusive southern-style food and well-made southern-style pastries. After more than ten years of operation in Harbin, the two managers Wang Ada and Xu Xinting gradually understood the tastes of Harbin consumers and consciously produced some varieties that were popular among Harbin citizens. When the homemade dim sum was in short supply, they successively added some production equipment, expanded production, increased product types, and improved the production process of some products. At this time, the front store and back factory of Lao Dingfeng had begun to take shape, with more than 30 workers and a total of more than 160 square meters of houses. During this period, the proportion of self-produced dim sum sold by Lao Dingfeng Nanwei Warehouse gradually increased, and it has changed from mainly distributing southern specialty products to mainly distributing self-produced southern dim sum. Lao Dingfeng's dim sum has always been known for its excellent production, because it has always been produced in small batches in the past, and the dim sum was directly placed on the counter after it came out of the oven, so there are always customers queuing up in the store waiting for the baked dim sum. Over time, this phenomenon has become a voluntary advertisement for Lao Dingfeng's dim sum, which has attracted many customers for Lao Dingfeng. At that time, the traditional products of Lao Dingfeng were various mooncakes and tiaozi cakes, Changbai cakes, and hibiscus cakes. Lao Dingfeng's mooncakes were new in style and variety. The common ones included assorted, hawthorn, jujube paste, rose and other varieties, and the high-end ones included gift mooncakes, crispy mooncakes, Cantonese mooncakes and so on. Lao Dingfeng's tiaozi cakes were not only unique in appearance, but also tasted better than similar products. The tiaozi cakes of other manufacturers were all plum blossom-shaped, while Lao Dingfeng's tiaozi cakes were always peach-shaped, and they always used eggs to naturally rise, without using stinky alkali, and brushing the surface with sesame oil. Although the selling price was a few cents higher than that of other manufacturers, customers were still willing to spend a few more dollars to buy Lao Dingfeng's tiaozi cakes because they were soft and fragrant. After opening up the market for cakes and gaining credibility, Lao Dingfeng still adhered to the tradition of fine craftsmanship and continued to add new varieties. In the later operation, Lao Dingfeng added seasonal pastries in spring (fried food), summer (cold cakes, mung bean cakes), autumn (various moon cakes), and winter (three cakes) which were very popular among Harbin consumers. Since then, Lao Dingfeng's pastries have become very famous in Harbin's pastry industry. In the early days of the puppet Manchukuo, Lao Dingfeng's business was relatively smooth. Although the Japanese had occupied Harbin, Wang Ada and Xu Xinting believed that as long as they worked hard to produce, operate in a responsible manner, and work together, they could continue their business for a long time. Due to the establishment of the puppet Manchukuo, the transportation between the north and the south was inconvenient, and the source of southern flavor specialties that Lao Dingfeng had been operating for decades ran out. In order to make up for the loss in business, Lao Dingfeng expanded its production scale accordingly and increased the output of pastries. With the increase in pastry production, Lao Dingfeng's pastries are still made with great craftsmanship, without any shoddy work. They have stricter quality requirements, and there are people who strictly control each checkpoint. Lao Dingfeng's pastries are particular about the raw materials, and the goods are genuine and the price is fair, and they are never sloppy. There are fixed channels for purchasing both the main and auxiliary ingredients. Preserved fruits, peach kernels, raisins, etc. are purchased directly from the place of origin. Some key auxiliary ingredients such as rose jam, osmanthus sugar, and jujube paste are mainly homemade. In the processing process, Lao Dingfeng strictly adheres to the principle of fine workmanship and meticulousness. All fried ingredients must be fried thoroughly, sesame seeds must be rinsed with clean water and fried before they can be eaten, melon seeds and peach kernels must be roasted over low heat before use, and small ingredients must be cut evenly, so as to ensure the unique flavor of Lao Dingfeng pastries. The main ingredients are strictly added according to the prescribed standards, and efforts are made in baking, which is another feature of Lao Dingfeng. Lao Dingfeng pastries are very particular about the dough making, and it is said that "sugar is the bone, noodles are the meat, and oil is the blood flowing in it". The key to Lao Dingfeng's mooncakes not being hard for a long time is to add oil in appropriate amounts according to different varieties, so that the mooncakes are firm but not stiff, with a comfortable taste and a long flavor. In the last process of baking, Lao Dingfeng has always maintained its advantage in the same industry. Although it has changed to stewing ovens, it still has its advantages. There is a saying in the pastry industry that "three parts of making and seven parts of baking". The baking technology is directly related to the quality, shape, color and taste of the product. In long-term practice, Lao Dingfeng's oven master has mastered a complete set of techniques for baking various pastries. Therefore, in this last process, not only does it not reduce the color of the product, but it also bakes the color, taste and shape of various pastries just right. The early 1930s was the heyday of Lao Dingfeng Pastry Factory. During this period, Lao Dingfeng could produce more than 1,000 kilograms of various pastries every day, which could be sold out on the same day. In the competition with several other large pastry factories in Harbin, Lao Dingfeng had a certain advantage. At that time, some reputable large stores could sell gift tickets on festivals based on the store's reputation (in the past, gift giving was about giving gift tickets, and the recipients would go to the store to choose goods with the gift tickets themselves), thereby expanding the influence of the store and products and increasing sales. The snacks of Lao Dingfeng became an indispensable gift during festivals. During every New Year, Lao Dingfeng would sell gift tickets worth several thousand yuan, which not only increased sales, but also attracted many customers for Lao Dingfeng. In the fifth year of the pseudo-Kangde period (1938), the Japanese puppet authorities imposed increasingly strict restrictions on national industry and commerce, and the "control" became increasingly cruel, and Lao Dingfeng began to go downhill. First, the Japanese puppets implemented a raw material rationing system, and Lao Dingfeng could only receive a bag of flour and a few kilograms of sugar every day. Later, only a little mixed flour could be rationed. Only a few kilograms of mixed flour biscuits could be produced with this little raw material every day. The next was the "July 25" price stop order in the eighth year of the pseudo-Kangde period. Managers Wang Ada and Xu Xinting saw that Lao Dingfeng could no longer operate, so they settled their accounts and left Harbin one after another. The remaining equipment and real estate of Lao Dingfeng were left to Manager Wang's son-in-law Zhang Yucan. At that time, I and a few others partnered to form a "Yongfadong" business in Tieli County, mainly engaged in wholesale food and general merchandise from Harbin and other places. At that time, I was stationed in Harbin to purchase goods. I met Zhang Yucan because I often placed orders at Lao Dingfeng. The next year, Lao Dingfeng's branch, Lao Dingfeng Dongji, offended the pseudo-police lieutenant Huang Baopi by collecting money from selling canned food, which led to Zhang Yucan's arrest and imprisonment for 7 months. After Zhang Yucan was released from prison, Lao Dingfeng was completely bankrupt financially. At that time, he had no intention of staying in Harbin for a long time and intended to sell Lao Dingfeng to me. After weighing the pros and cons, I agreed to take over Lao Dingfeng. After negotiation, I took over Lao Dingfeng's one factory, one store and remaining goods with 50,000 yuan in counterfeit currency. After taking over Lao Dingfeng, I never started production because there was no source of raw materials; I just used Lao Dingfeng's store as a warehouse, purchased goods in Harbin and stored them here, and then transported them to Tieli Yongfadong for sale. At this time, Lao Dingfeng was actually our Yongfadong's Harbin office. When I took over Lao Ding Feng, my colleagues at Yongfadong disagreed. They thought that the Japanese puppet regime in Harbin was very strict at that time, and there were restrictions everywhere, so Lao Ding Feng could not open at all. But I thought that Lao Ding Feng had a good reputation and a good location. As long as we hold on to this store and keep this brand, it will definitely be profitable one day when the war subsides. I transferred 150,000 yuan of counterfeit currency from Tieli Yongfadong to Harbin, bought some remaining goods from various abandoned factories and bankrupt stores in Harbin, stored them in Lao Ding Feng, and transported them to other places for sale after seeing the market. At this time, Lao Ding Feng became a business with only a brand name but no business. After Japan's defeat in August 1945, Harbin's industry and commerce began to recover. I saw this as a good opportunity, so I decided to start production and resume Lao Ding Feng's business. At that time, it was the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and I considered producing Lao Ding Feng's specialty product, moon cakes, which would make Lao Ding Feng's brand famous again in Harbin. In this way, Lao Dingfeng mobilized everyone, repaired the equipment in just a few days, and brought back the laid-off workers. I bought flour on credit from Yichangtai Fire Mill through my connections, and borrowed money from Yifa Bank to buy raw materials such as sugar and soybean oil. Around the Mid-Autumn Festival, Lao Dingfeng produced more than 30,000 kilograms of mooncakes, which were sold out as soon as they were put on the counter. In 1946, I rented two factories on Daowai Zhongmalu Road and successively opened Lao Dingfeng Soda Factory and Lao Dingfeng Winery. At that time, there was an abundant source of alcohol. In addition to selling in the city, the alcohol-mixed Osk, brandy, and wine made by Lao Dingfeng Winery could also be shipped in large quantities to Hailar, Heihe, Yakeshi, Zalannuoer and other places, and the sales were very good. During this period, Lao Dingfeng was in a period of prosperity. In just one year, it accumulated a considerable amount of funds. In early 1948, the municipal government conducted a comprehensive registration of industry and commerce in the city, and issued a notice on "Protecting Industry and Commerce" shortly after the registration. The notice pointed out that all industrialists and businessmen in this city shall be protected and shall not be infringed. Based on this industrial and commercial registration, their ownership shall be recognized and no one shall infringe their property from March 4. With the strong support of the government, Lao Dingfeng actively expanded its production. However, since the supply of raw materials could not meet the processing capacity of the factory, we decided to expand the agency business and operate it like Lao Dingfeng in the early days of its establishment, making full use of Lao Dingfeng's stores to sell local specialties. At that time, the situation of the People's Liberation War was very good, and the People's Liberation Army began strategic 1. The buyers sent by Lao Dingfeng followed the footsteps of the liberation army and went to Changchun and Shenyang, which had just been liberated. Later, they went to Yingkou, Tianjin, Beiping, Nanjing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places. The local specialties that Lao Dingfeng had discontinued for many years were put on the counter one after another. As the economic situation improved, the production of Lao Dingfeng Pastry Factory gradually returned to normal. After the liberation of the country, Lao Dingfeng continued to develop and expand under the protection of the party's policies and laws. During the period of national economic recovery, it worked hard to produce to supplement the deficiencies of the state-owned food industry, enrich the market, and meet the needs of the masses. During this period, Xu Yuduo, the pastry technician of Lao Dingfeng, made bold innovations with the spirit of the master, so that the variety of Lao Dingfeng's snacks was constantly updated and deeply welcomed by the people of Harbin. As far as moon cakes are concerned, Xu Yuduo inherited the tradition and innovated. He melted the characteristics of Beijing-style, Cantonese-style and Su-style moon cakes into one furnace and developed more than 60 sets, 217 varieties, patterns and shapes. There are more than a dozen kinds of moon cake skins, such as white skin, scalding skin, egg floating skin, water floating skin, Beijing hard skin, pulp skin, oil pastry skin, raw sugar skin, etc. There are more than ten kinds of moon cake flavors, such as fruity, meaty, seafood, pepper and salt, bean, and secret fragrance. There are also more than ten kinds of shapes, such as square, pentagon, fan, rectangle, plum blossom, diamond, oval, etc. In 1956, Lao Dingfeng carried out public-private partnership in socialist transformation and merged with several small factories to form Harbin Lao Dingfeng Third Food Factory. In 2000, it was successively changed to Dazhong Food Factory and Jingyu Food Factory. In 1979, Lao Dingfeng resumed its old brand name and has been in business until today. After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, Lao Dingfeng attached great importance to cultivating technical talents in order to meet the needs of the people and develop by creating new varieties and patterns. After several years of hard work, there are now 1 national-level pastry technician, 3 municipal-level pastry technicians, and pastry technicians and technicians above level 5, accounting for more than 40% of the total employees in the factory. In recent years, Sichuan pastry mooncakes and secret fruit mooncakes have won the title of national high-quality products, cakes, small pastry fruits, one-mouth pastry, and open-mouthed smiles have won the ministry's excellence, and children's cream preserved fruit cakes and four-season cakes have won the provincial excellence. The products of Lao Dingfeng have been prosperous for a long time because they pay more attention to scientific formulas and unique craftsmanship, so the products have diverse shapes, clear patterns, bright colors, uniform skin and fillings, uniform fruit materials, and delicate and crispy. Now, Lao Dingfeng Pastry Factory produces an average of 15,000 kilograms of pastries every day, sometimes as high as 20,000 kilograms, and the annual net profit can reach more than 200,000 yuan, ranking first among Harbin pastry manufacturers. The slogan of Lao Dingfeng is "Reputation is the purpose, quality is life, technology is blood, and development is achieved through innovative varieties and patterns." In order to expand the scale of production, Lao Dingfeng's new factory has been built and will appear in front of people with a brand new look. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)