Bakalong represents the most affordable access to a slice of the legendary Banzhang experience, with a delivery and feel all its own.

During our visit to Zhilin, Mr. Yang of LBZ’s son in Bakanan, we shared a meal and tea with some of his crew. While the Yang family is of the Hani ethnic minority, their crew in Bakanan is the local Lahu, as Bakanan and Bakalong are Lahu villages. Having never visited and naturally curious about the lesser known fifth village in the Banzhang Wu Zhai, I asked if they had relatives in Bakalong. Before long we found ourselves driving down the road to Bakalong, to pay a visit Nalan’s aunt’s, Napo, tea gardens and home tea processing unit.

Bakalong is the most western village of the 班章五寨 Banzhang Wu Zhai (Five Villages)

With a profile similar to the kind of Banzhang character delivery found in Bakanan tea, Napo's Bakalong finds a stronger footing in its aromatic delivery right out of the gate with a distinctive floral honey character, whereas Bakanan persists more in the mid-session. With a slightly more pronounced upfront bitterness in Bakanan, Bakalong’s attack is a bit softer. The thickness of each is comparable, and both produce a light huigan. These two twin villages are ideal alternatives to the other more expensive banzhang villages, sharing similar profiles with slight differences we’re curious to discover the more we work with this family. It’s noteworthy that the primary role of these villages is to be sold under a different name, either broadly Banzhang or even more specifically as a counterfeit LBZ. While less common on the market by its actual name, if sourced from origin and divorced from the associated neighborhood hype, Bakalong gives us the most affordable banzhang terroir experience.

Filming how wild it was to see a village of brand new buildings.  The government mandated and subsidized the demolition of old structures + the building of new developments, completed in 2022.