All story begins with an order.
In 1997, Mr. Yang, a visitor from Taiwan, sought out Mr. Zou Bingliang, a "Lifetime Achievement Master of Pu'er Tea" who was then serving as an advisor to the Yunnan Provincial Tea Company. Mr. Yang commissioned a batch of tea bricks to be sold in Taiwan.
At the time, trade restrictions between mainland China and Taiwan prohibited printing product labels directly on packaging. To work around this, they devised a method of branding product information onto bamboo slips using a hot iron, which were then embedded in the tea bricks. This allowed the products to pass inspections and identify them through the bamboo slips.

By 1997, Mr. Zou Bingliang had already dedicated over 40 years to tea production, and he was affectionately known in the industry as "Old Comrade." Since these tea bricks were made by him, they were named “Old Comrade Pu'er Brick Tea.” "Laotongzhi" means "Old Comrade" in Chinese

Meaning of the “Laotongzhi” Logo

In 2002, Haiwan Tea Industry selected the sunflower as the logo for "Laotongzhi (Old Comrade)," symbolizing sunshine, abundance, positivity, progress, and humility in times of great harvest.
The three sunflowers represent firm support and adherence to the national policy at the time: “One Center, Two Basic Points.”

In 2003, Haiwan Tea Industry officially registered the "Laotongzhi (Old Comrade)" brand.