A factory worker's journey to becoming a baking champion

Gong Xin, a teacher at Suzhou Wuzhong Technician College in east China's Jiangsu Province, is the chief expert and head of the coaching team for China's bakery event at the at the 48th WorldSkills Competition which wrapped up on Sept. 26.

The 31-year-old has gained extensive experience competing against top bakers from around the world, learning how to give Western-style bread a distinctly Chinese touch. Yet before turning 20, he had never even heard of a world-class bread-baking competition.

(Photo/CMG Voice of China)

After graduating from a secondary vocational school, Gong worked at a factory in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province. He earned more than 8,000 yuan (about $1,193.37) a month.

"One night, my parents asked me to choose from three careers: a chef, a barber or a cake decorator. They said that if I learned a skill, I could return to my hometown and open my own shop someday." After thinking about it for just one night, Gong chose the third option.

Gong started from scratch at a training center, and then worked his way up from cake shop apprentice to store manager. In October 2015, at age 20, he quit his job, left Shenzhen and applied for a teaching position at Suzhou Wuzhong Technician College in east China's Jiangsu Province.

Although he passed the interview, the monthly salary of 2,500 yuan made him wonder whether he had made the wrong choice by leaving Shenzhen.

A few months later, his mentor called and asked whether he would like to compete in the 44th WorldSkills Competition. That year, baking had just been added as a competition event. Under the rules, competitors could not be over 22 in the year of the competition and could compete only once in their lifetime. But there was only one spot available to represent China overseas.

To prepare for the competition, Gong stayed by the oven, using homemade tools to deal with bubbles forming on the bread. He was burned countless times. With nowhere to conduct mock training, he would wait until his students had left for the day, set up a workbench in the classroom and practice throughout the night.

After months of intensive preparation, Gong finally made it to the national competition. But the moment he opened his toolkit, his mind went blank. After a series of mistakes across multiple modules, he finished sixth nationally that year and missed out on the WorldSkills Competition.

What Gong remains grateful for is that the expert panel looked beyond his score. They saw his concentration while baking and his passion for the craft, and invited him to compete in more baking competitions.

(Photo/CMG Voice of China)

In 2020, the 10th Bakery World Cup (Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie) was held in Paris, France. Gong presented his creation. The judges were amazed that Gong assembled more than 300 bread "components" into the entire installation in just eight hours. This time, Gong stood on the podium as China's national anthem played at the venue. It was the first time China had won the championship since the Bakery World Cup was launched in 1992.

In 2023, the world finals of the 9th World Bread Competition (Mondial du Pain) were held in Nantes, France. Hailed as the "Bread Olympics," the competition required Gong and his team to make more than 100 pieces of bread within 8.5 hours. Amid a series of mishaps, Gong even thought of giving up. "But then I realized that I was not competing as an individual. I was representing China," he said. "Behind you stands a team and your country, not just yourself." China took the title, and Gong won the award for best artistic bread.

Today, Gong works behind the scenes, coaching young competitors and serving as one of the youngest judges on the international baking competition circuit. At the start of every semester, he shares a line with his students: If there is a miracle in this world, it is only another name for hard work.