Laozhai (old village)

Literal meaning

'old village/stockade'

Definition#

In Yunnan tea naming, 老寨 is read as the 'old village' of a village cluster; 'X老寨' on a listing names tea claimed from that historical core village (Bingdao Laozhai, Ban Po Lao Zhai and so on). The sources consulted do not define the word; Path of Cha glosses 'Bingdao Lao Zhai (冰岛老寨 - Bingdao Old Village)' as the oldest and most legendary of the Bingdao villages, and the definition here is inferred from that usage. A China News Weekly report (2021) lists the five hamlets of the Bingdao village committee as 冰岛、糯伍、地界、南迫、坝歪 (冰岛五寨), reports 63 resident households in 冰岛老寨 and speaks of the move of the 'core area' 冰岛老寨. CNIPA announcement No. 616 of 2025-02-11 gave '冰岛老寨茶（冰岛正山茶）' a preliminary GI-product recognition (no final decision found) with the area limited to the natural village of Bingdao. 'Old' refers to the settlement, not to the trees' age, and many unrelated villages are named Laozhai.

Translation and usage#

Language	Use	Alternatives & cautions
English	Laozhai (old village) the original, older village of a cluster, as in Bingdao Laozhai pinyin with a gloss	Also acceptable Lao Zhai old village Old Stockade (rare) Avoid old-tree village '老' qualifies the settlement, not the trees
Deutsch	Laozhai (altes Dorf) das ursprüngliche Dorf einer Dorfgruppe pinyin with a gloss	Also acceptable Lao Zhai Avoid Altbaumdorf 'old' refers to the settlement, not to the trees
Русский	Лао Чжай (старая деревня) исконная деревня группы поселений pinyin with a gloss	Also acceptable лаочжай старая деревня
简体字繁體字	老寨
日本語	老寨（ラオチャイ）古い村、集落群の中心の村 pinyin with a gloss	Also acceptable 老寨（古い村）

Common confusions#

Bingdao Laozhai is one hamlet; 'Bingdao' alone is the administrative village with five hamlets (China News Weekly). The article compares Laozhai's ancient-tree price with Lao Banzhang's (45,000 vs about 15,000 yuan/kg, spring 2021) and gives no price for the other four hamlets.
'Laozhai' is a common place name, not a protected term outside the wording of the 冰岛老寨茶 GI application.
No age implication for the trees.