7 Days Hakka Culture Tour to Fujian and Meizhou

Embark on a captivating journey through the heart of Hakka culture in Fujian and Meizhou, two regions rich in history and traditional architecture. This 7-day tour combines the natural beauty of coastal Xiamen with the unique Hakka tulou (earthen buildings) scattered throughout the picturesque countryside. Experience the vibrant culture, historical landmarks, and culinary delights that define the Hakka heritage.

Tour Highlights

  • Xiamen Exploration: Discover the charming coastal city of Xiamen, including visits to the revered South Putuo Temple, the historic Hulishan Fortress, and the scenic Gulangyu Island, known for its colonial architecture and lush landscapes.
  • Culinary Delights: Savor the flavors of local seafood at the Eighth Seafood Market and enjoy authentic Fujian cuisine along Zhongshan Road, a vibrant pedestrian street filled with snacks and cultural sights.
  • Hakka Tulou Experience: Visit the iconic Tianluokeng Tulou Complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and marvel at the architectural wonder of the Yuchang Building, the oldest and tallest round tulou.
  • Cultural Immersion: Explore the rich history of the Hakka people through visits to significant sites, such as the former residences of prominent overseas Chinese figures, the Thousand Buddha Pagoda Temple, and the Chinese Hakka Museum.
  • Nature and Heritage: Conclude your journey at the Hakka World Scenic Area, an eco-tourism park that beautifully integrates Hakka culture with the region’s natural landscape, showcasing the unique architectural style that characterizes Hakka dwellings.

Brief Itinerary

  • Day 1: Arrival Xiamen
  • Day 2: Xiamen
  • Day 3: Xiamen
  • Day 4: Xiamen-Nanjing
  • Day 5: Nanjing-Meizhou
  • Day 6: Meizhou
  • Day 7: Departure from Meizhou

Full Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival Xiamen

Sightseeing and Activities: Airport Pick-up
Accommodation: Xiamen
Meals: None

Arrive in Xiamen, the beautiful costal city in South-east China, you will be greeted by your tour guide and transferred to hotel.

Day 2: Xiamen

Sightseeing and Activities: South Putuo Temple, Hulishan Fortress, Gulangyu Island,
Accommodation: Xiamen
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast, start your one-day city tour to South Putuo Temple–the temple backs on to a group of exquisite peaks and visit Hulishan Fortress before lunch. Hulishan Fort is a key national historical and cultural site. One of the fortress’s cannons was listed in the Guinness World Records. It’s on the south of Xiamen Island at the top of Huli Hill, overlooking the sea.

In the afternoon, visit Gulang Island, the quaint tourist attraction is part of the bustling city of Xiamen. It is famous for its natural beauty, colonial style architecture and a myriad of interesting museums.

Day 3: Xiamen

Sightseeing and Activities: The Eighth Seafood Market, Zhongshan Road Pedestrian Street, Overseas Chinese Museum, Jimei School Village
Accommodation: Xiamen
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today we will explore Xiamen city in depth. In the morning, we will have a walk at the Eighth Seafood Market, an old landmark, is the busiest, largest and most complete seafood market in Xiamen. It has been a seafood distribution center since the 1920s and 1930s. Visitors may experience the most authentic local life there. Then have a leisure walk at Zhongshan Road Pedestrian Street, the oldest commercial street in Xiamen. Buildings here are arcades, with pink and milky white as the main colors, which are full of Nanyang style. The colorful and splendid night view, dazzling and various Fujian Taiwan snacks are also major features of the street.

In the afternoon, visit Overseas Chinese Museum, a building of national features with a building area of more than 3,000 square meters, displaying more than 7000 exhibits, displaying many cultural relics, handicrafts and specimen sources donated or invested in by many of the overseas Chinese. Then move to visit Jimei School Village (Jimei University), a beautiful land that nurtures talents. Under the guidance of Mr. Tan Kah Kee, the buildings in the village combined Chinese style with the Western style, and reflect the typical architectural style of the land of overseas Chinese in South Fujian Province.

Day 4: Xiamen – Nanjing

Sightseeing and Activities: Drive to Nanjing (3 hours), Tianluokeng (Snail Pit) Tulou Complex, Yuchang Tulou Building, Taxia Village
Accommodation: Nanjing
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

In the morning, check out and drive to Nanjing for 3 hours, then visit Tianluokeng Tulou Complex, which is one of the best-known Hakka Tulou Complex located in Shuyang township, Nanjing. It consists of a square earth building at the center of a quincunx, surrounded by four round earth buildings, or more exactly, 3 round earth buildings and one oval shape earth building, figuratively nicknamed ‘four dishes with a soup’.

Then continue our Hakka tulou trip to explore Yuchang Building, which is near to Tenluokeng Scenic Area. With a history of more than 600 years, it is the oldest and tallest round building known to exist, and is known as the “mother of Fujian Tulou”.

Drive to Taxia Village for overnight. Taxia Village is a typical Hakka village, situated in a beautiful valley. It is a also a famous overseas Chinese village, where you will see various Hakka tulous in different shapes, quaint and peaceful.

Day 5: Nanjing – Meizhou

Sightseeing and Activities:Hekeng Tulou Cluster, Drive to Meizhou (3-hour drive), Tai Po Calyx Building, Tai’an Building
Accommodation: Meizhou
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

In the morning, we will check out after breakfast. Visit Hekeng Tulou Cluster, which locates in Hekeng Natural Village, Nanjing County. It is composed of 14 earthen buildings of different shapes and built in different eras. Earth buildings of this cluster are distributed in valleys and surrounded by mountains, magnificent and harmonious, as if each of them grows out of the soil naturally.

Then drive forward Taipo county, Meizhou city, Guangdong Province, which is regarded as the Shangri-La of Hakka World. Go to Tai Po Calyx Building, located in Lianfeng Village, Dadong Town, Dapo County, Meizhou City, Guangdong Province, built in the 36th year of the Wanli Ming Dynasty (1608), nearly 400 years ago, which has the exquisite design and unique structure, showing the Hakka people’s concept of complete, united, average and equal life, and have certain significance for the study of ancient Hakka residential architecture and Hakka folklore.

Continue to visit Tai’an Building, a major wonder of Hakka residential architecture, and is also a cultural treasure in the history of Chinese and world residential architecture, a national AAAA-level tourist scenic spot. It was listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit by the State Council in 2019, and was known as the “Hakka Water Cube”.

Day 6: Meizhou

Sightseeing and Activities: Zhong Han Di — Former Residence of Lee Kuan Yew, The Ancestral Residence of Tin Ka Ping, Thousand Buddha Pagoda Temple, Chinese Hakka Museum
Accommodation: Meizhou
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast, drive to Gaopo Village of Taipo County, visit the former residences of 2 overseas Chinese celebrities. Both residences are typical Hakka style buildings. The first stop is to visit Zhonghan Di, which is the former residence of Lee Kuan Yew. It was built on a gentle hillside, with flowing water on the left, a mountain road on the right, a wilderness in front and a high hill in the back, is the layout of the upper and lower halls. Then move to the Ancestral Residence of Tin Ka Ping, which includes Gongchen Building and Wanjuan Building.

In the afternoon, visit Thousand Buddha Pagoda Temple, which has a history of more than a thousand years, where you will see a pagoda on the pagoda, and pagoda overlapping pagoda (about 40 minutes visit). Then we will arrive the Chinese Hakka Museum (about 50 minutes to visit), where you will understand the Hakka culture in one day. The museum is the only national thematic museum in China to collect, research, display and inherit Hakka culture, and it is also a collection of Hakka architecture, Hakka art, Hakka folklore, Hakka custom.

Day 7: Departure from Meizhou

Sightseeing and Activities:Hakka World Scenic Area, Transfer to airport or train station
Accommodation: Home
Meals: Breakfast

In the morning, enjoy our visit to Hakka World Scenic Area, which is a Hakka cultural eco-tourism industrial park, based on Meizhou’s original natural landscape and profound Hakka culture, integrating scientific research, education, training, ecology, culture, leisure, vacation, residence and tourism etc. The architectural style here reproduces the essence of Hakka architecture, blends the new Hakka architecture into the landscape, and becomes a miracle of Chinese architectural culture, and is also a beautiful Chinese Hakka folk landscape painting.

Free at leisure and have lunch before transfer to the airport or the railway station for your departure to the next destination.
Service ends.

Service Included:

  • Admission fees for all of the sightseeing spots listed in the itinerary;
  • Meals as listed in the itinerary;
  • Hotels as listed in the itinerary;
  • Private English-speaking tour guide;
  • Private vehicle for transfers & sightseeing with skilled driver;
  • Service charge & government taxes;
  • Luggage transfers between airports and hotels;
  • Domestic train tickets of soft sleeper.

Service Excluded:

  • Any arrival and departure international airfares or train tickets;
  • Single room supplement;
  • Tips to guides and drivers;
  • Personal expenses and gratuities to service staff;
  • Personal travel accident insurance;
  • All optional programs.