Can people with hearing difficulties appreciate a concert? The answer is a resounding yes. And the proof is in the pudding at Rainbow Angel Coffee, a Beijing-based bakery mainly employing hearing-challenged bakers, which tries to host a mini-concert at least once a month.

"Our bakers are involved in the process from start to finish," Li Shaohua, founder of the bakery and a mother of two girls, told Beijing Review. Because of her husband's job, Li's family moved from Taiwan to Beijing in 2011. She went on to establish the bakery in 2017.

But putting together a show isn't easy. Short of funds, they have no way to pay for the venue and personnel, let alone setting a date well in advance. "Every time, we have to take baby steps, but with the help of many warm-hearted people, everything always just falls into place," Li said. Many volunteers participate in the concert organization, as well as in the bakery's daily operations.

Hope and love

The idea of setting up the bakery sprouted from one of her daughter's homework assignments in 2016, which was to volunteer, Li said. They reached out to a group for people with severe hearing difficulties at a nonprofit center in Beijing and so the family's long-term connection with this group began.

Li started to visit the center regularly and always made sure to bring some Taiwanese desserts for the people there, even starting a class at the center to teach them some dessert-making skills.

After talking to family members and visiting their homes, Li gradually began to understand what these people really needed. "One time, a mother asked me if I could help her son find a job. I realized what they needed was not material assistance, but the skills to make a living—and get respect."

With the encouragement of these families, and her own household, Li decided to turn her passion for baking and helping people in need into a full-time job. "So instead of just training people, I opened up a shop," she said.

In 2017, Rainbow Angel Coffee came into being with the help of many kind hearts. "Businesses and individuals, both from the mainland and Taiwan, came to our aid, helped us to find a store, and even got us more orders," Li said.

The bakers come from all over the country. Some had seen Li on the news and reached out to her for help. The shop provides staff with accommodation, training, and, of course, a salary.

But why the name Rainbow Angel? Because some hearing-challenged children in particular have a very different perception of the world around them, one very different from people with normal hearing; they barely understand abstract concepts, Li explained. She decided to used "rainbow" to represent "hope" and "angel" to represent "love."

"I hope every customer can feel the hope and love as well," Li added.

Although she has relocated the store several times due to financial problems, Li still has a strong desire to open more stores and recruit more hearing-impaired bakers to provide them with an equal working environment and living skills.

Eight-year-old Hu Ruolin volunteers at the bakery almost every weekend. Joined by her mother, she helps package the products. The young girl even started to learn the flute, hoping to join the concerts soon.

"She was very shy before, but volunteering has made her open up more and she's made many new friends here," Hu's mother told Beijing Review, adding the bakery is like a warm family. In September, Hu celebrated her birthday at the shop.

Family to family

Aside from running her bakery, Li also needs to pick up her daughters from school and make dinner every day.

The family has been living in Beijing for 11 years and the two girls are growing up, getting a good education and meeting many people here. "I see how they are fully integrated in the local community and couldn't be happier," Li said.

In recent years, different regions have issued policies to encourage children from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan to attend primary and middle schools across the Chinese mainland, Yan Bingchen, an official with the Ministry of Education, told a press conference on September 20.

Both of Li's two daughters now go to school in Beijing's Haidian District and they often bring the story of the cafe to their classmates.

Her youngest daughter, Zhu Zi'en, wrote an article describing how she'd volunteered at the bakery and shared some of her experiences.：

"I am a student of Wanquan Primary School. I have volunteered at Rainbow Angel Coffee since I was in the first grade. At that point, the bakery just opened; I basically grew up with it. The bakery helps those with severe hearing difficulties to stand on their own feet and be confident, and meets their other needs. I've seen how much these people have changed firsthand," she wrote.

In Li's own words, she is a mother of two families: her two girls and her bakers.

Given the bakers' confined social network due to their limited communication abilities, Li, her girls, and other volunteers have tried to enrich their lives. Aside from hosting monthly mini-concerts, they take them cycling around the nearby park after work or visit Beijing's suburbs over the holidays.

Whenever customers enter the shop, they will immediately pick up on its sense of comfort and happiness.

"We had thought about moving back to Taiwan for different reasons, but we decided to stay here, for one primary reason: the bakery," Li said. "My girls also encouraged me to continue this journey because they have witnessed the growth of the bakery and are part of it." 

(Print Edition Title: Baking a Better Place)

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson

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