Silence is Gold: Guangzhou bakery thrives in the quiet

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Europe

02:26

As China marks the National Day for Helping the Disabled on Sunday, we head to a bakery in southern China's metropolis of Guangzhou. There, we can see that sometimes it's those with disabilities who are the ones doing the helping, Sun Ye has the story.

At Silent Cake, these are the only sounds. The people who work here. They can't hear. They don't speak. And they don't need to. For the new manager Wang Canran, it's a place where he feels at home. He also said this is the best job he's ever had.

WANG CANRAN DEPUTY MANAGER, SILENT CAKE "I do the cashiering. I manage other people, I mind the products -- many things."

SUN YE GUANGZHOU "It's not easy for people like Wang to have a job that makes them happy. Even though China has already put in place a mandatory quota system that asks all companies to employ people with disabilities."

But enforcement has been hard. And many are stranded in jobs that allow little interaction. Silent Cake's founder said he started the brand to take things into their own hands.

QIU JUNKUN FOUNDER, SILENT CAKE "I know what they experience elsewhere. And I just want to make them happy. These are the people I care about. I know they're just as talented. And it hurts me to see them rejected, and it's not because they can't do things well."

Opened in April, the shop is already starting to make ends meet. It's already doubled its staff. Applications come from around the country and now only one of the thirty people there speaks. And the place has become somewhat of a local celebrity.

"It's not my first time here. This place feels so peaceful, and I would come here again."

And such feedback is part of the reason why Wang and his colleagues say they want to hold onto the job for a very long time.