Hechenghao

Hechenghao was started by Huang Guo, a native of Futian, who opened the shop in the old Shenzhen market town in 1901, in the late Qing dynasty. From the beginning it specialised in Lingnan-style traditional snacks led by yunpian gao (thin-sliced rice-flour cake). It is one of the rare time-honored names actually born in Shenzhen rather than relocated here.

Its Shenzhen yunpian cake became known well beyond the town and was a signature local product of the old market. In 2023 Hechenghao was recognised in the third batch of China Time-Honored Brands by the Ministry of Commerce, part of Shenzhen's first-ever entries onto that national list.

The cake is made from glutinous rice that is roasted and aged through many steps, then pressed into sheets so thin they can be peeled apart leaf by leaf, soft and lightly sweet. The associated craft, the Shenzhen yunpian-cake technique, is on Guangdong's provincial intangible-heritage list.