Tao Huabi’s story began in a remote village in Guizhou Province. Born into a poor family, she never got the opportunity to go to school. Tao married at 20 but when her husband died of illness a few years later, she was left to raise their two young children on her own. Illiterate, and without any specific work skills, Tao Huabi became a street vendor to ensure that she could provide for her young family. She worked tirelessly and would regularly make the journey to get ingredients on foot, trekking 5km to the store and carrying the goods home on her back.
It was in 1989 that Tao opened a noodle stand, and here she served generous portions of tossed noodle salads with her special home-made chilli sauce. Her stall began to develop a wide following, with customers unable to get enough of her delicious chilli sauce. Often, they would come just to purchase bags of the sauce to take home. Truck drivers dining at her stall helped to spread her fame far and wide, and soon customers were driving across town, out to her store just to buy her chilli sauce.
