9-Day Hakka Village and Xiapu Mudflat Tour
Suggested Itinerary
A warm welcome awaits you at the airport. Your private guide and driver will be ready to help you deal with all hassles from the airport to hotel check-in. Enjoy a comfortable transfer from the airport to your hotel.
You will visit the highlights of Xiamen, including Gulangyu Island, South Putuo Temple, Hulishan Fortress, and Suzhuang Garden. See many colonial buildings with Western/Eastern architecture on Gulangyu Island. Experience Chinese Buddhist culture in South Putuo Temple, a famous Buddhist temple built during the Tang Dynasty (618–907). Climb to Wulao Peak for a bird's eye view of Xiamen's port.
Good to know:
Hulishan Fortress, a relic of the Qing Dynasty, was constructed in 1891.
Suzhuang Garden, a private villa famous for its traditional Chinese garden, has a splendid view of the sea.
Enjoy a relaxed start. Your private guide and driver will take you to enjoy Hakka culture. You will visit Taxia Village, and see traditional earth buildings at Yuchanglou and Tianluokeng. Taxia Village is a distinctive Hakka village, where you can best learn about the Hakka people's culture and lifestyle.
Good to know:
Optional choice: From April to November in Taxia Village, you can learn to pick and process tea at a local tea plantation, and take it back home.
See the earthen buildings of Yongding, the symbol of Fujian Province. You will visit the Chuxi Earthen Buildings Cluster, including three massive round buildings and one square building. Then you have the chance to talk with local students at a primary school in Chuxi. Later take a trip to the Hongkeng Earthen Buildings, the biggest concentration of these Hakka marvels.
Good to know:
Earthen buildings are called tulou (土楼 /too-loh/). The Hongkeng Earthen Buildings are known as 'the tulou prince'. because they are the most magnificent cluster.
Take a morning train to Ningde (departure 08:45, arrival 11:00). Your private guide will accompany you on the train. Your driver will be waiting for you at the railway station when you reach Ningde. In the afternoon you will go to Qidu in Ningde, and photograph the mudflats at sunset.
Xiapu is not-so-well-known by travelers, but has fantastic views and is deeply loved by photographers. You will visit Beiqi for sunrise shots, its local fishery, and amazing bamboo standing in the sea. At Dongbi you can take photos of mudflat farming and the sunset.
Good to know:
Famous for China's most beautiful mudflats and its (laver) seaweed, in Xiapu you can capture fabulous photos of local fishermen and its marine culture. The sunrises and sunsets are the classic Xiapu images.
First capture the dawn at Weijiang. Take a boat to see Mantoushan (Steamed Bun Mountain), where you can take pictures of hanging oysters, fishing villages on the sea, and fishing pontoons. There will be another chance to photo the beautiful mudflats and the sunset in the afternoon.
Good to know:
April to June is the best period to take photos of seaweed and the local fishery, because then is the seaweed harvest. This is the theme of many a Chinese ink painting. A typical classic includes thousands of bamboo poles draped with seaweed, egrets, and local people working on the mudflats.
Get up early to catch the sunrise in Huazhu village. Photograph old banyan trees in Yangjiaxi after breakfast, and get some life shots of an old farmer with his buffalo or an old lady carrying water. The whole afternoon is set aside for you to photograph the thousands of bamboo canes in the sea. Keep some battery/memory for the sunset.
Good to know:
October to February is the harvest time of laver. It is the best time to photo the laver, and also croakers, kelp, and oysters.
Visit Yantian after a breakfast to take photos of people living on boats. After lunch catch a train to Xiamen (departure at 14:56 and arrival at 17:05). Enjoy a trouble-free airport transfer to help you on your way back home.
Tour Price
Price includes:
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Olivia Tian, a sunshine tour guide!
In October, my friend Amy booked a tour with Chinahighlights, Olivia Tian was our guide in Beijing, she is such a sweet n happy person to be around, not only she gave us the best guide service, also very accommodating, alter the plan as per our interest, took us to very local shopping n food district. Above all, she takes awesome pics, very patient!! Thank you so much for such pleasant 5 days in BJ, look forward to see you when we are back in China, Olivia!! more
Dec 2023,
Venture216019
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One whole of a good experience !
Kevin was always making flexible arrangements for us making sure we meet our needs. Kevin also walked us to our desired restaurant daily making sure all are well before he left. Kudos to the whole team. Highly recommend ? more
Dec 2023,
Cornelius C
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China is Amazing Wonders that do not stop coming at you.Great country
Great job,Loved every minute of it,Ethan did an amazing job,True Ambassador of China,Just like the Chinese people,Friendly, dignified and hardworking,Very happy.China Highlights exceeded expectations and then some,I will never even think of travelling with another company. more
Dec 2023,
Philip Sardar /Maps10321171537
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Wonderful trip to Beijing and Xian
Had a great trip to bejing n xian. Our guide lily liu is so well versed in english and we have no worry here at all. We managed to dine in great halal restaurants though out our trip. Highly reccomended to all muslims travellers. more
Dec 2023,
Efen Reyes
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Great experience, highly recommended!
Additionally, she helped me with all my personal needs like getting a SIM card, finding an ATM, shopping, dining, checking in at the train station, hotel, suggested a couple additional very entertaining art events. Was also punctual and spoke good English. more
Nov 2023,
Wayne S.
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Excellent tour with Tom from China Highlights
We used China Highlights for the 3 days of our Beijing trip. Tom was a fantastic guide. Very knowledgable with excellent English. He was able to accommodate changes to our tour at short notice, allowing us to make the most of our limited time. Couldn’t recommend highly enough more
Nov 2023,
Ross
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Magical Adventure
Wow this tour was honestly the best tourI have ever taken! Our guide Simon Yao was simply superb! His English was excellent and he was very easy to talk to. He was personable and friendly but not overpowering or overbearing. Very knowledgeable about history. Thankfully the weather was good so we were not super hot !Finally at the wall we were amazed by it's beauty and grandeur. It really is something and pictures don't do it justice. more
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Annika M
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Excellent two day visit to Great Wall
Our guide ‘Mark’ was incredible. So friendly, knowledgable and funny. The itinerary was perfect, we got to see two different parts of the Great Wall (one of which at night which was magical) and our hotel stay in Gubei was wonderful. Highly recommend to anybody visiting Beijing more
Nov 2023,
James_Wolstenholme
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Great Experience from start to finish!
Jack was my guide and his local knowledge and English skills were fantastic. He was punctual, friendly and willing to flex as we went about our tour. Couldn’t recommend China Highlights more! more
Nov 2023,
Scott Smith
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Family tour
Helen in Beijing - thanks for paying great attention to details, for your small surprises for the children every day, for selecting amazing restaurants, and leading wonderful walking tours. Your cheerfulness added to our enjoyment. more
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Kamila
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Great day out with Mark, thanks China Highlights!
We did a 1 day private tour with China Highlights to see Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, and the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. Communication was great throughout - from trip planning/booking with Roger and from our guide Mark who contacted us the day before to confirm meet up time/location. Avoided a lot of the queues and definitely learned quite a bit of history from our guide Mark…thanks again! No language barriers/issues…highly recommended. more
Nov 2023,
ykeezy
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China Three (3) Cities Tours
To the tour guides, Ethan, Jason and Tony, you guys have made my visit an awesome and memorable experience. All the tour guides spoke english and communicated very effectively. They are knowledgeable about all the sites visited including, Great Wall of China, The Forbidden City, Panda Breeding and Research Center, Leshan Giant Buddha, Hallelujah Mountains, Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon and Glass Bridge, and Tianmen Mountain. The tour guides ensured I got the most out of my time I stayed in the various cities Beijing, Chengdu and Zhangjiajie. more
Nov 2023,
Kadar
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13 days in China
We booked a 13 day’s tour of China with China Highlights. Our travel advisor, Ms Leah Zhou organised an itinerary that suited what we wanted. She was really helpful and patient will all our needs. Leah helped us organised our 30th Wedding Anniversary Dinner and my 60th Birthday celebration?? in Beijing. For this to be possible, she had to liaise with our guide in Beijing. The flowers and cake were a real surprise. My husband and I, were really touched at the good service provided by China Highlights and Ms Leah Zhou. Thank you China Highlights and Ms Leah Zhou for your constant care of your customers. I will certainly recommend China Highlights to my friends. more
Nov 2023,
Eda Adams
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Perfect Beijing experience
Covering all major sights our exploration of Beijing and surroundings was flawless guided by Lily, along with her knowledgeable and balanced information on Chinas culture and history. In particular, Lily was able to adjust the tour according to personal preferences, e.g. focus on photography, as well as suggesting additional activities like an impressive authentic artistic show. I highly recommend China Highlights as China tour operator and Lily Liu as excellent guide regarding the Beijing area. more
Nov 2023,
Perfect Beijing experience
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Our first trip to Beijing
Our tour guide was Lucy Yubo. She was awesome. Very friendly, informative and passionate about her job. We really enjoyed her company and guidance. more
Nov 2023,
Sreelatha Reddy
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Anne and Bob’s tour of Beijing
We did the China Highlights tour of Beijing with our excellent guide Mark and his driver. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Beijing highlights including the Lama Temple, the Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Lama Temple. The Summer Palace with the boat ride and the Garden of Virtue and Harmony were memorable also and the Mutianyu Great Wall was a highlight. We were impressed with Mark as a guide. He knew his history and he was kind and thoughtful. He took us to some excellent restaurants and we were introduced to some beautiful food. We enjoyed his company and will always remember him. more
Nov 2023,
BendigoBob
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Excellent end to end service
Helen is a positive, full of knowledge, experienced guide.She provided us an implacable service abd experience for 3 days .Highly recommended more
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Sariel Engel
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Amazing Beijing Tour with Risa!
Risa gave us a wonderful tour of the city! She thoroughly explained the cultuaral importance of each exhibit while also educating us on the Chinese culture. Appreciated having this wonderful Beijing trip with Risa:) more
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Angelica M.
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Amazing Beijing Tour With Risa!
We were very kindly received in Beijing by our tour guide Risa. She gave us a very thorough tour of the city and showed us wonderful places, while also explaining the important history/culture of China! Very beautiful city filled with many things to do and full of culture! This was very well planned and made it very easy for us to visit the city and foreigners:) Thank you Risa! more
Nov 2023,
Angelica M
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Do Beijing like a local
They organised my trip very quickly and efficiently. On the day, Anna was very friendly to me, my mum and my baby. Very accommodating to our needs. The car was immaculately clean and very comfortable. We visited everything we initially wanted and more. Also, Anna took us to the best meal we had in China. It makes a difference to have a local choosing the dishes! more
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Natali A
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