Wang Lao Ji

Product brand

A historic Chinese herbal-tea beverage brand associated with cooling refreshment and the traditional concept of reducing internal heat.

Last updated November 4, 2026

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Overview

Wang Lao Ji, also rendered Wong Lo Kat in Cantonese-oriented English, is a Chinese herbal-tea beverage brand traditionally dated to 1828. It is closely associated with Guangzhou and with the Cantonese tradition of liangcha, or cooling herbal tea. The brand’s central consumer proposition is that the drink helps address shang huo, a traditional Chinese concept commonly translated as “internal heat.” In contemporary marketing, this idea is usually connected with refreshment after spicy food, barbecue, hot weather, or other occasions perceived by consumers as heat-producing. The brand’s identity combines heritage, Chinese medicinal and botanical associations, and mass-market packaged-drink marketing. Its best-known modern presentation is a red can, although the trademark and packaging history is more complicated than the visual identity alone suggests. Historical records cited in legal commentary indicate that Yangcheng Tonic Factory produced a green-packaged version in 1991, applied to register the WANG LAO JI mark in 1992, and obtained registration in 1993. In 1997, the trademark was assigned to Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holding. Separately, Hung To established a beverage subsidiary that became Guangdong Jiaduobao Drink & Food, or JDB, and used the mark under a licensing arrangement for products in red-can packaging. The licensing relationship and subsequent disagreements over trademark and packaging rights became a defining chapter in the brand’s corporate history. Wang Lao Ji’s modern growth was driven heavily by positioning and advertising rather than by a narrow medicinal-retail channel. A major television advertising commitment beginning in 2003 helped place the drink in high-visibility national media. The brand was presented as an everyday companion to meals and social occasions, particularly hotpot, barbecue, and other strongly seasoned foods. This reframing helped move it beyond an older image of herbal tea as something consumed mainly for health reasons or at the urging of older family members. Industry and media accounts have described it as one of China’s leading packaged beverage brands, though financial claims vary by source and are not treated here as verified current figures. The brand has also experimented with participatory and youth-oriented communication. A 2019 Bilibili campaign invited comic and manga communities to create characters for Wang Lao Ji, with audience voting used to select concepts for campaign content. Other activity has included festival marketing, social-media engagement, surname-themed can designs, and campaigns linking the product to family reunion and cultural belonging. These efforts sought to preserve the brand’s traditional associations while making its packaging and communications more relevant to younger consumers. Internationally, the brand has used WALOVI as an international-facing identity or sub-brand. A highly visible campaign featuring Norwegian footballer Erling Haaland presented him speaking Mandarin and repeating the brand’s heat-reduction proposition. The creative connected the beverage with summer, barbecues, football viewing, and physical activity, while using the unexpected pairing of a global sports star and a centuries-old Chinese herbal drink to generate conversation. The campaign’s reception illustrates both the opportunity and difficulty of internationalization: the humorous celebrity contrast can travel easily, but concepts such as shang huo and traditional cooling logic require cultural translation for audiences unfamiliar with Chinese herbal-tea traditions. Wang Lao Ji remains an active beverage brand with its strongest heritage and market recognition in China. Its principal business scope is packaged non-alcoholic herbal tea, supported by brand extensions and international marketing. Because ownership, licensing, packaging rights, and commercial use of the name have been contested historically, references to the brand should distinguish the trademark owner and brand custodian from licensees and manufacturers that have sold products using related names or visual identities.

History

Wang Lao Ji is traditionally traced to 1828 in Guangzhou, where liangcha occupied an important place in southern Chinese food and wellness culture. Unlike modern soft drinks that are primarily framed through flavor or refreshment, liangcha is historically connected with botanical ingredients and traditional beliefs about bodily balance. Wang Lao Ji’s later mass-market identity retained this cultural frame while adapting it to standardized cans, bottles, national distribution, and modern advertising. The available legal-history material records an important transition during the early 1990s. Yangcheng Tonic Factory produced Wang Lao Ji in green packaging in 1991 and applied to register the WANG LAO JI mark in Class 32 on January 18, 1992. The registration was issued on January 20, 1993. In August 1997, Yangcheng assigned the relevant trademark to Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holding. This created the basis for a later division between trademark ownership and commercial exploitation through licensing. Hung To subsequently established a wholly owned beverage subsidiary, initially Dongguan Jiaduobao Drink & Food Co., later renamed Guangdong Jiaduobao Drink & Food Co. The company manufactured and marketed products using a red-can presentation under a licensing arrangement associated with Guangzhou Pharmaceutical. The agreement was renewed for periods running from 2000 until May 2, 2010, according to the legal account. The parties used differentiated packaging patterns and colors under the arrangement, making the relationship between the mark and the red-can appearance commercially significant. A major expansion of consumer awareness followed an intensive advertising strategy. In 2003, Jiaduobao committed to a ten-year advertising campaign using peak-time CCTV placements. The brand’s message moved beyond traditional herbal-medicine contexts and into everyday consumption. Advertising connected Wang Lao Ji with spicy meals, hotpot, barbecue, and festive gatherings, making the drink a familiar packaged alternative to carbonated soft drinks. This occasion-based positioning was especially effective because it gave the traditional “reduce internal heat” idea a simple behavioral cue: drink it when eating foods believed to cause heat. The commercial success of the red-can product intensified the importance of legal control over the name, packaging, and consumer recognition. When the licensing relationship ended, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical and Jiaduobao pursued competing claims regarding use of the Wang Lao Ji name and the red-can trade dress. Courts and legal commentators treated trademark rights and packaging rights as related but not identical questions. The dispute produced parallel market identities and forced consumers to distinguish between Wang Lao Ji-branded products associated with Guangzhou Pharmaceutical and Jiaduobao products marketed under other branding after the licensing conflict. Later marketing focused on renewing the brand for younger audiences without discarding its heritage. In 2019, Wang Lao Ji used Bilibili and participation from comic and manga communities to solicit consumer-created characters. The campaign’s voting mechanism gave audiences a role in selecting creative output, while the resulting video content translated a traditional beverage into a digital-native format. Other brand work used festival occasions, surname-based can personalization, and visual references to family reunion and ancestral belonging. Wang Lao Ji has also pursued international recognition through WALOVI, an international-facing identity intended to make the brand easier to communicate outside China. Its campaign with Erling Haaland used an intentionally surprising pairing: a globally recognized Norwegian footballer speaking Mandarin for a centuries-old Chinese herbal-tea brand. The advertising connected the product with summer heat, barbecues, football, and refreshment, while retaining the traditional proposition around shang huo. Coverage reported substantial online attention, although the campaign also exposed the challenge of explaining culturally specific wellness concepts to consumers unfamiliar with liangcha. Today, Wang Lao Ji remains an active packaged-beverage brand rooted in Guangzhou’s herbal-tea tradition and associated with Guangzhou Pharmaceutical. Its history illustrates how a regional traditional drink became a national consumer brand through trademark development, licensing, mass advertising, occasion-based positioning, digital participation, and global celebrity marketing. The brand’s record must nevertheless be read with care because ownership and licensing arrangements have produced competing commercial uses of the Wang Lao Ji and Wong Lo Kat names.

2026
WALOVI launches Haaland global ambassador campaign
[3]Herbal tea meets football: Can Wang Lao Ji and Erling Haaland beat the heat worldwide?marketing-interactive.com
The international-facing WALOVI identity partnered with Erling Haaland in Mandarin-language advertising linking the drink to heat, summer, barbecues, and football.
2023
Surname-themed packaging campaign recognized by IPA
[5]Wang Lao Ji Major campaignphotoawards.com
A campaign built around surname totems and customized cans received a first-place advertising and brands award in the cited IPA entry.
2019
Bilibili character co-creation campaign
[2]How a 192-year-old tea brand got an infusion of character from Gen Zcampaignasia.com
Wang Lao Ji invited young comic and manga audiences to create and vote on brand characters for campaign content.
2003
CCTV advertising expansion
[1]Supreme People's Court holds trademark and packaging rights separatelexology.com
A long-term peak-time CCTV advertising campaign helped turn the herbal tea into a nationally recognized packaged beverage.
1997
Trademark assigned to Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holding
[1]Supreme People's Court holds trademark and packaging rights separatelexology.com
Yangcheng assigned the Wong Lo Kat/Wang Lao Ji trademark to Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holding.
1993
Trademark registration
[1]Supreme People's Court holds trademark and packaging rights separatelexology.com
The WANG LAO JI trademark registration was issued on January 20.
1992
WANG LAO JI trademark application
[1]Supreme People's Court holds trademark and packaging rights separatelexology.com
Yangcheng Tonic Factory applied to register the WANG LAO JI mark in the non-alcoholic beverage class.
1991
Green-packaged production documented
[1]Supreme People's Court holds trademark and packaging rights separatelexology.com
Yangcheng Tonic Factory began producing and selling a green-packaged version featuring traditional calligraphy, according to legal-history commentary.
1828
Traditional founding date
[2]How a 192-year-old tea brand got an infusion of character from Gen Zcampaignasia.com
Wang Lao Ji is conventionally dated to 1828 and associated with Guangzhou’s long-standing liangcha tradition.

Products and positioning

A heritage Chinese herbal-tea brand positioned as a refreshing, meal-compatible beverage associated with reducing traditional “internal heat,” especially alongside spicy food, barbecue, hot weather, and social occasions.

Ready-to-drink herbal tea
Wang Lao Ji Herbal Tea
The core packaged beverage associated with the Wang Lao Ji name. It is marketed as a refreshing liangcha and is culturally linked to the traditional idea of reducing shang huo, or internal heat. Consumers commonly drink it with spicy food, hotpot, barbecue, and during hot weather. Formats and recipes may vary by market and product period.
Packaged herbal tea
Red-can Wang Lao Ji
The red-can presentation became one of the most recognizable visual forms associated with Wang Lao Ji. Its commercial history is intertwined with a licensing arrangement involving Jiaduobao and later litigation over the relationship between the trademark, manufacturing rights, and packaging appearance. The red-can identity should therefore be described with attention to the relevant period and producer.
International beverage identity
WALOVI
WALOVI is used as an international-facing brand identity or sub-brand for Wang Lao Ji. Its communications seek to translate the traditional Chinese herbal-tea proposition into globally legible occasions such as summer refreshment, barbecues, sports viewing, and post-exertion consumption.

Controversies

2017
Final ruling in red-can trade dress dispute grants both parties shared rights
In August 2017, the Supreme People's Court issued a final ruling in the dispute between Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group and JDB over the trade dress of red-can Wanglaoji, revoking the relevant original-instance judgment and holding that both parties shared the rights to the trade dress at issue. This entry records the litigation dispute and final outcome and does not treat the revoked first-instance infringement finding as the final conclusion.
Source
2017
Marketing claim of extending lifespan by 10% questioned by media and experts
In December 2017, a Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group executive said at a forum that drinking Wanglaoji could extend lifespan by about 10%, and the brand's Weibo spread the claim, sparking controversy over the basis for the promotion. Media and interviewed experts noted that the cited study involved rats, and animal experiment results cannot be directly presumed to be lifespan-extension effects in humans. The cited reports did not provide a final administrative penalty.
Source 1 Source 2

2026WALOVI x Erling Haaland
China · International digital markets
WALOVI appointed Erling Haaland as global ambassador and released short-form advertising in which he spoke Mandarin and adapted a football-associated chant to promote the drink during summer, barbecues, and football viewing.
Outcome. The unexpected celebrity pairing produced substantial social discussion and helped expose the brand to international audiences, while commentators noted the challenge of translating shang huo into universal wellness language.
Source
2023Surname Totem Cans
China
The campaign combined cans with Chinese surnames and totem-like visual treatment, connecting personalized consumption with New Year reunion, family bonds, and respect for ancestry.
Outcome. The cited campaign entry records first place in an advertising and brands category.
Source
2019Gen Z Character Co-creation
China
Working with Inspire Communications Group, Wang Lao Ji invited comic and manga communities to create characters and used Bilibili as the principal distribution and participation platform. Public voting helped select concepts for video production.
Outcome. The initiative gave younger consumers a participatory role and updated the brand’s image beyond an older, health-oriented audience.
Source
2003Peak-time CCTV advertising campaign
China
Wang Lao Ji’s licensing-side operator committed to a long-term television advertising program on peak-time CCTV, helping build national awareness and associate the beverage with ordinary eating and social occasions.
Outcome. The campaign is widely cited as a major step in the brand’s national mass-market expansion.
Source

Brand decisions

2026
Internationalization through WALOVIStrategy
Background
Wang Lao Ji sought to make a culturally specific Chinese herbal-tea proposition more accessible to overseas audiences.
Action taken
The brand used the WALOVI identity and appointed Erling Haaland as a global ambassador, framing consumption around heat, refreshment, food, and football.
Aftermath
The campaign generated international attention and demonstrated the potential of culturally surprising creative, while leaving translation of traditional wellness concepts as an ongoing challenge.
Source
2010
Post-license brand separationStrategy
Background
The licensing period associated with Jiaduobao ended on May 2, 2010.
Action taken
The parties moved toward separate commercial use and competing claims concerning the Wang Lao Ji name and red-can packaging.
Aftermath
The resulting litigation made the distinction between trademark rights and packaging rights a central issue in the brand’s history.
Source
2000
Renewal of the licensing arrangementStrategy
Background
A beverage subsidiary established by Hung To was producing and marketing products using the Wang Lao Ji name in the red-can format.
Action taken
The licensing agreement was renewed for a period running through May 2, 2010, according to the cited legal account.
Aftermath
The arrangement supported large-scale commercialization but left trademark and packaging questions commercially consequential after expiration.
Source
1997
Assignment of the Wang Lao Ji trademarkM&A
Background
Yangcheng Tonic Factory held the relevant registered mark after its 1992 application and 1993 registration.
Action taken
The trademark was assigned to Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holding in August 1997.
Aftermath
The assignment established the basis for later licensing and disputes involving commercial use, packaging, and production.
Source

Recent events

2026
Wang Lao Ji and Erling Haaland generate international campaign buzz[3]Herbal tea meets football: Can Wang Lao Ji and Erling Haaland beat the heat worldwide?marketing-interactive.com
Campaign · Other
Wang Lao Ji’s international identity WALOVI used Erling Haaland in Mandarin-language advertising that connected herbal-tea consumption with summer heat, barbecues, football, and sports-viewing occasions. Media coverage described strong online discussion in China and internationally.
2019
Wang Lao Ji develops a participatory Bilibili campaign for Gen Z[2]How a 192-year-old tea brand got an infusion of character from Gen Zcampaignasia.com
Campaign
The brand worked with creative partners to invite comic and manga communities to design brand characters. Submissions were voted on by users, and selected concepts were turned into campaign video content aimed at younger consumers.
2012
Trademark and packaging rights become central to Wang Lao Ji dispute[1]Supreme People's Court holds trademark and packaging rights separatelexology.com
Lawsuit · Other
Legal commentary on Supreme People’s Court proceedings described the separation between trademark ownership and packaging-related rights in the long-running dispute involving Guangzhou Pharmaceutical and Jiaduobao. The matter followed the end of a licensing relationship and competing red-can products.

Sources10 sources

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