The Historical Evolution of Caizhizhai

Suzhou people, old and young, all know Caizhizhai candy. Caizhizhai Candy Store, located in the east of Guanqian Street, is an old shop with a history of 100 years. In the 9th year of Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty (l870), Jin, the founder of Caizhizhai (a native of Henan), bought simple tools such as a sugar cooker, a small copper pot, a bluestone table, scissors and a small amount of candy raw materials with a meager capital of 500 coppers, and set up a stall in front of the original tea shop at No.73 Guanqian Street. At first, we only sold zongzi sugar, and hung a small sugar stall at the entrance of Dongzhu Temple Lane in Du Xuan, where we cooked and cut sugar in public. Because the cut candy looks like zongzi, it is named zongzi candy. According to legend, this sugar-making technology originated in the last years of Wumen Biao Yin, so it is also called Xie.

After more than ten years of operation, Jin has accumulated some capital. In the tenth year of Guangxu (1884), with the assistance of his son Jin, he opened his own shop at No.72 Guanqian Street (a part of Chunyang), producing and selling candy, roasted seeds and nuts and candied fruit. Up to now, No.72 Guanqian Street used to be an antique shop in Caizhizhai, and the original owner and his wife usually had frequent contacts with Jin. After the couple were old and childless, they were going back to their hometown in Ningbo to spend their old age, so they transferred the lease right of the antique shop in that studio to Jin. After Kim moved in, his business was like a duck to water. In addition to producing and selling Soviet-style candies and roasted seeds and nuts, he also added Soviet-style preserves, and his business is booming. But at this time, the store still has no official brand. Customers who come to Qian Jie originally only know that this is an antique shop in Caizhizhai, so it is easy to call each other: go to Caizhizhai to buy sugar. Jin pushed the boat forward and officially designated the store as Caizhizhai. Shortly thereafter, his dentist moved to the next door, and Jin expanded the shop into a medium-sized shop with two bays, leaving the shop affairs to his eldest son Jin.