Our Trips
Guides Related Journeys Xiamen and the Hakka Villages of Fujian
Best Travel Time: Year-round
Length of Journey: 4 Days or longer
Departure Date: Upon request
Trip Cost: TBD
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Staying at an authentic Hakka earth building guesthouse; 3 hour trek into a secluded Hakka community in Nan Jing county; admiring classical western architecture, enjoying fresh seafood and sandy beaches on Gulangyu Island
Day–to–Day Itinerary Click Here
Trip Introduction
The Hakka villages featuring the earth buildings that are both round and square date back to as far as over 1000 years are amazing and a must see for the world traveler interested in unusual cultures. In July of 2008, UNESCO has enlisted the earth buildings in Yongding, Gaobei, Nanjing and Chuxi areas as a "World Cultural Heritage Site".
The Hakkas are peace loving people who had migrated from central China to the southern provinces of Fujian and Guangdong to escape from warfare during the Yuan dynasty. They called themselves "Hakkas" (guests), to remind themselves that they are guests in a foreign land. They built these fortress-like earth buildings to defend themselves from attacks of local bandits and wild animals. The earth houses (called "tulou" in Chinese) are made of earth, wood, and stone using glutinous rice as the main adhesive agent. These houses of round and square in shape ranges from 40 to 1000 years old, and they take from 2 to 15 years to construct. The largest of these houses can house over 1000 people, and store enough food to last for a whole month without getting out. Today, many of these houses had been left vacant, as the locals embrace life of the modern world, but quite a few of them are still occupied.
In combination with the Hakka Villages, we’ll take you to spend some time on Xiamen’s Gulangyu Island – an island with sandy beaches all around that has no cars or bicycles. This island became a foreign settlement in Fujian province after the opium war, and it is full of fabulous western influenced architecture, museums, piped delicate piano music, and quaint guesthouses.