Hakka Heritage Of Guangdong – 7 Days

Begin on Shamian Island, a quiet sandbank on the Pearl River where foreign trading companies and consulates built their offices in the nineteenth century. Walk its banyan-shaded avenues past colonial buildings. Then head to Yongqingfang, a restored neighbourhood of arcaded houses in the old Xiguan area, where you visit the ancestral house linked to Bruce Lee’s family.

Try your hand at making cheung fun, the silky steamed rice noodle rolls loved across Guangdong, in a hands-on class, then sit down to lunch at a local restaurant.

Visit the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, an octagonal hall with a blue-tiled roof built in memory of Sun Yat-sen, born in Guangdong and honoured as the father of modern China. Finish at the Nanyue King Museum, built over the tomb of a king of Nanyue who ruled more than two thousand years ago, with a burial suit made of jade pieces at the heart of its collection.

Leave Guangzhou by private car for the drive into the hills of eastern Guangdong. Break the journey at Wanlv Lake near Heyuan, a large reservoir of clear green water dotted with islands and surrounded by forested hills.

Lunch is at a local restaurant near the lake.

Continue to Meizhou, often called the capital of the Hakka world, home to many Hakka families whose relatives have settled across Southeast Asia and beyond. Visit Sujiawei, a village of traditional Hakka homes beside a river, where you can see the classic enclosed layouts built to house extended families, before checking in to your hotel in Meizhou.

Drive into the countryside to Hua’e Lou, a large Hakka round building made of thick earthen walls around a central courtyard, designed to house many families and protect them in unsettled times. Walk through its rings of rooms and imagine the communal life within.

Continue to Songkou Ancient Town, once a busy river port where many Hakka emigrants set off on their journeys overseas. Lunch is at a local restaurant, a good moment to try Hakka dishes such as salt-baked chicken and stuffed tofu.

Visit Lingguang Temple, a Buddhist temple set in the hills among old trees, known for its peaceful setting and its long history in the region. Return to your hotel in Meizhou.

Visit the Qianfo Pagoda, the Thousand Buddha Pagoda, which rises above the city with its many small Buddha figures. Then explore the Hakka Museum, which tells the story of Hakka migration, language, architecture and customs.

Stop at Dongshan Academy, a historic academy where generations of local scholars studied, and stroll along Youluo Street, an old street of arcaded shophouses.

Your driver takes you south to Shenzhen. Check in to your hotel in Shenzhen and spend the evening at leisure. The drive brings a striking change of scene, from the farmland and river towns of the Hakka hills to the glass towers of one of China’s youngest and fastest-growing cities.

Walk through the Guanlan Ancient Ruins, an old market town of shophouses and watchtowers that shows Shenzhen before the modern city arrived. Then stroll about twenty minutes to Guanlan Printmaking Village, a Hakka village where restored houses now hold studios and galleries devoted to print art.

Visit Edixia Village, a quiet settlement of traditional homes, and stop for lunch at a local restaurant.

Drive about an hour to the Dawan Ancestral Residence, a large walled Hakka compound with rows of houses, ancestral halls and corner towers, built by one family clan. It is one of the best-preserved examples of Hakka architecture in the Shenzhen area.

Spend your last morning in modern Shenzhen. Walk the waterfront at OCT Harbour, then visit the flagship store of a leading Shenzhen drone maker, where you can try a test flight. Finish at the Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning, which explains how the city grew from a small town into one of China’s major cities.

Your guide and driver take you to the airport for your onward flight.