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"Xiangmei Bakery," tucked in an alley of Shuilin’s old market, has been in business for 65 years. It hand-makes a wide variety of ceremonial pastries: from birth celebrations to centenary rites and every seasonal festival, locals instinctively think of “Xiangmei”—a trusted, home-like name. Customers order first, then the goods are baked fresh, so empty shelves are perfectly normal. Second-generation owner Lee Chung-hsien says: “In its heyday Shuilin had six or seven bakeries, but times changed; the trade declined and the younger generation refused to return to the countryside, so one by one they closed. As my father aged he thought of shutting down, yet the shop had raised our family from nothing and the townspeople’s affection for Xiangmei was hard to abandon. In 2000 I decided to come home and carry on the business.”