Taste authentic German breads at German uncle's bakery

　　Opening a bakery to satisfy one's own picky taste seems a little bit willful, but here's a lovely German uncle who runs three bakeries producing German breads in Shaxi town, Taicang.

　　Walking east from the memorial archway of Shaxi town, an unremarkable store comes into view where many tourists pose for a picture at the door.

　　A signboard printed with "Brotecke – Traditional German Bakery" is hung on a traditional door plank. And what is a "Brotecke"? Actually the word means bread in German.

　　Casting a glance at the store, one might see a middle-aged foreigner busily watching over the ovens and talking with customers in Chinese although he speaks it not so well.

　　This foreigner is the bakery's owner, Erwin.

　　Erwin dreamed of starting a business when he was a child and a furniture factory was his first career.

　　The German was deeply attracted by Taicang's serene life when by chance he went on a business trip to Taicang in 2012.

　　So, he decided to establish a trade company in the city and just enjoy its comfortable life.

　　Erwin, who loves traditional culture, began to frequent Shaxi's ancient town after settling in the small city.

　　Last year, Shaxi Merchants Group invited Erwin to open a bakery in the ancient town which luckily happened to coincide with his own thoughts.

　　Although it is cosy to live in the city, it's hard to find authentic German bread here and Erwin missed them.

　　In 2015, he opened the first Brotecke in the ancient town and three others have been opened since.

　　"The reason why I decided to make bread is not for money, but that I want Germans working in the city to be able to eat authentic German bread," Erwin said. "I also want more Taicang people to learn about German culture while enjoying my bread."

　　He said his principle is to bake only traditional German products, one of his best sellers of which are his pretzels, totally hand-made by a traditional Bavarian process.

　　The surface of a dough most commonly shaped into a twisted knot is sprinkled with sesame and sea salts and then dipped in water containing soda before being put into an oven.

　　The soft fresh pretzels will satisfy all your bread fantasies.