"We were amazed at people's willingness to try a new thing. It was as simple as showing people that it is pizza baozi, and sometimes it is simple innovations that have the most impact," says Cree.

At some events, they had queues 40-50 people deep; often people waited over an hour for Baozza when they have had plenty of other food options around, says Cree.

Then, in September 2016, managed to open a delivery center catering to online food delivery platforms such as Baidu Waimai, Eleme, Metuan and Jinshisong.

In December, they launched their own delivery service, after seeing steady growth in customers.

Meanwhile, besides event catering and online delivery, they also plan to open retail outlets across the country.

Cree credits the popularity of Baozza to quality and taste as well as the pizza market, which has grown enormously in China since the 1990s.

Baozza customers love the combination of the pizza taste and the baozi texture. It is soft, chewy, and blends well with melted cheese.

Also, it is not greasy or messy when people eat it, which makes it much more portable so people can carry it, just like traditional baozi which are carried around in plastic bags, says Cree.

Besides while baozi is traditionally a breakfast option and pizza a dinner one, Baozza works at any time of day, as a meal or a snack, he says.

Most of the Baozza customers are young Chinese professionals who are game to try out new trends in food and lifestyle, he says.

"When we started last summer, we knew our product was delicious, but we really had no idea what the average Chinese would make of it. So, to see the positive reactions has been incredibly heartwarming," says Cree.

Cree and his team have experimented with over 20 baozza flavors, including classic pizza ones such as Pepperoni Baozza, funky flavors like Buffalo Chicken Baozza, mash-ups like Cheeseburger Baozza, and one of the team's favorites - - - Banana Nutella Marshmallow Dessert Baozza with vanilla and chocolate chip dough.

They plan to release new Baozza flavors on a regular basis.