How to Write 崂 (láo) — Meaning “Mount Lao”

Picture a mountain (山) where workers are laboring (劳) to plant tea trees. This recalls the famous Mount Lao in Qingdao, known for its Laoshan tea. The image of workers laboring on a mountain helps link the two parts to the character's meaning and sound.

Write the left radical 山 first: a vertical stroke, a vertical fold, and a final vertical stroke. Then write the right side 劳: start with the grass radical 艹 (two horizontal strokes with verticals), then add the bottom 力 (a horizontal fold and a left-falling stroke). A common mistake is making the bottom 力 too wide or forgetting to align the left mountain with the right component.

崂 (láo) is specific to Mount Lao in Shandong, with the right side 劳. 岢 (kě) appears in place names like 岢岚 and uses the phonetic 可, while 岣 (gǒu) is only in the word 岣嵝 (a mountain name) and uses 句. Visually, the right parts differ: 劳 versus 可 versus 句.

崂 is almost exclusively used in the place name 崂山 (Mount Lao), a famous mountain and tourist destination near Qingdao, China. It also appears in product names like 崂山茶 (Laoshan tea) and 崂山矿泉水 (Laoshan mineral water). The character is not used outside these specific references to Mount Lao.

Common words containing 崂 include: 崂山 (láo shān) — Mount Lao; 崂山茶 (láo shān chá) — Laoshan tea; 崂山矿泉水 (láo shān kuàng quán shuǐ) — Laoshan mineral water.