Tradition meets innovation – a new look for longevity peach buns

Longevity peach buns were traditionally used to express birthday wishes in Chinese culture; however, following the spread of Western culture, Taiwan began to introduce colorful Western-style birthday cakes. As living standards improved, birthday cakes slowly replaced the status of longevity peach buns, which were gradually forgotten by the people. In more recent years, the use of longevity peach buns has been limited to ceremonial altars as deity offerings.

Seeing the gradual demise of this important part of Chinese culture, longevity peach bun bakers began searching for ways to introduce the buns to different age groups. In addition to the traditionally styled longevity peach buns, which still hold childhood memories for senior citizens, creating novel styles, sizes, and flavors has been successful in attracting young people. Through various activities and online marketing, the longevity peach bun is once again becoming a part of people’s lives and seems set to remain part of the culture for many years to come.

以下為中文對照

壽桃原本是中華文化中祝壽的代表食物，但隨著西方文化的傳布，台灣開始引進了賣相好、色彩繽紛的生日蛋糕，隨著生活條件的提升，生日蛋糕逐漸取代了壽桃的地位，因此壽桃在大家的記憶裡已經逐漸被遺忘，最後只有在神明供桌上才看得到屬於中華文化特有的祝壽食物。

在看到台灣有許多人漸漸遺忘這樣的傳統的祝壽文化，壽桃師傅開始想辦法讓壽桃與更多年齡層互動，除了傳統造型能讓長者重溫童年時的回憶，也從改變外型、大小、口味的創意壽桃，讓年輕人願意接觸這項獨特的中華文化，藉由各式活動和網路行銷，使壽桃更貼近民眾的生活，讓這項文化繼續傳承下去。