Lao Ban Zhang 老班章 - history and present

28. 09. 2024

Laobanzhang Ancient Tea Mountains is located under the administration of Banzhang Village in Bulangshan County 布朗山乡 about 70 km from Menghai County City. It is a place full of history and cultural heritage rich in quality Pu-erh tea known as the "King of Pu-erh Tea".

Laobanzhang Village is neither scorching hot in summer nor bitterly cold in winter, with excellent climate conditions, fertile soil, abundant rainfall and good ecosystem. The Bulangshan mountainous area where Laobanzhang village is located is inhabited by Bulang, Hani, Lahu, Dai and other ethnic groups.

Gates tp Ban Pen (left) and Lao Ban Zhang villages (right).

All ethnic groups traditionally grow and drink tea, with a history of thousands of years of tea cultivation and tea-making technology passed down from generation to generation. The Lahu ethnic group inhabits the village of Banpen, which you will encounter on the way to Laobanzhan. The word "Banzhang" comes from the Dai language: "Ba Zha" which means "fish." The Chinese transliteration is “Banzhang.” In the late 1990s, Pu-erh tea was still a hard-selling tea in Yunnan, and Laobanzhang was hidden in the deep mountains and ancient forests of Menghai County. Tea from Laobanzhang was completely unknown to the world. Geographically, Banzhang includes two places, Laobanzhang Village (Old Banzhang) and Xinbanzhang Village (New Banzhang), but generally speaking, "Banzhang tea" usually refers to Laobanzhang. Xinbanzhang is 7 km away and accessible via a poorly maintained road. As the population grew, the tea fields in Laobanzhang became insufficient and people gradually began to move away from the village. There were two population migrations and this led to the emergence of Xinbanzhang. At that time, the villages of Xinbanzhang and Weidong had larger harvests than Laobanzhang, and many people in Laobanzhang envied those who moved away. But many of them regretted it after a few years.

The location of Laobanzhang Village has well-preserved original ecological vegetation diversity and culture, rich organic soil, abundant sunshine, thick clouds and fog, and high humidity, which are particularly suitable for the growth of old tea trees. Since ancient times, the villagers of Laobanzhang have used traditional methods to maintain the ancient tea plantations and followed the folk customs of tea collection and processing. Laobanzhang Pu'er tea is one of the few tea producing areas in Yunnan province that never uses inorganic substances such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides. It is a purely natural original tea producing ecological area.

New planting of tea trees at the back of Laobanzhang village.

Looking back at the history of Puer tea, Laobanzhang tea was basically unknown before 2000. According to the memories of local tea growers and tea lovers who have been devoted to Banzhang for a long time, in 2000, the price of first-class tea (not necessarily from an ancient tea tree) purchased by Menghai Tea Factory was only 8 yuan per kilogram. At that time, the tea buds in Laobanzhang were too big and the color was not ideal, so the purchase price was much lower than other tea regions. In 2001, the price rose slightly to 11 to 12 yuan, and in the Spring of 2004, it suddenly soared to 30 to 40 yuan. Since then, the price has risen steadily, from 70 to 180 yuan in 2005, 180 to 400 yuan in 2006, and soared to a price of 1,680 yuan per kilogram in the spring of 2007. In comparison, during the same period, the price of ancient tea tree tea in Yiwu only 400-600 yuan per kilogram. The price has been rising since then, and in 2024, nearly 20,000 yuan per kilogram is required. The price always depends on where the trees are located, what the current demand is and who sells you the tea.

Laobanzhang has a long history of tea production that can be traced back to 300 AD. At that time, it was the ancestral seat of the ancestors of the Bulang nation, who had been growing tea for a living for generations. In 1476, Han ancestors moved here to build a village and continue to maintain the old tea trees in the mountains. Around 1800-1960 AD, the village of Laobanzhang was prosperous and experienced two population migrations. Among them, the people who moved away 60 years ago moved to a place about 20 kilometers from Laobanzhang Village. To distinguish them, those who moved to the new location were called Xinbanzhang and those who moved to the old address were called Laobanzhang.

The King and the Queen of Laobanzhang.

In 1987, Laobanzhang village introduced a system of household land leases, mainly tea fields and mountain land, ending the poverty of the Aini ethnic group, who had hunted and farmed in the old ways for generations, ushering in an era of food and clothing for everyone. In 1992, the entire village of Laobanzhang raised tens of thousands of yuan to end the "dark" years of relying on fire pits and pine resin for lighting. In 2002, the government built a rural road from Laobanzhang village to the outside world, ending the history of Laobanzhang people being isolated from the world for thousands of years. Most of the tea trees in the Laobanzhang area are hundreds of years old, and some are nearly a thousand years old. Such places are rare in Yunnan. The central production area of ​​Laobanzhang is called Tea King Land, where the legendary King and Queen of Laobanzhang trees grow.

In recent years, Puer tea from Laobanzhang has been enthusiastically sought after by tea lovers, and more and more people have come to regard Laobanzhang as a popular place for recreational tea drinking and business. Laobanzhang's reputation is growing day by day, and the local tea has become a rare collector's item for many Puer tea lovers. Its price is growing very pleasantly from year to year. Because of its scarcity, Laobanzhang Puer tea has become very rare and hard to come by. Owning a Puer tea cake from Laobanzhang has become the pride and honor of many tea lovers.