7-Day Chaoshan Food Tour: Chaozhou, Shantou & Meizhou

Meals: Dinner   
Accommodation: In Chaozhou

Meet your local guide at Chaoshan High-speed Train Station or Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport and transfer to the hotel. Chaozhou is closely associated with Chinese porcelain, pearl embroidery and the wider development of Chaoshan culture.

Chaozhou City View

In the afternoon, walk through Chaozhou Old Town, beginning at the 650-year-old Guangji City Gate Tower and historic Guangji Bridge. Pause at Zaiyang Tea House for Chaoshan tea and local music, then continue along Taiping Road and Jiadi Alley to see the archways, old residences, neighborhood life and local snacks.

Dinner features Chaoshan Setay Beef Hot Pot . Afterwards, you may see the riverside lights and Guangji Bridge light-and-shadow show, subject to availability, before returning to the hotel.

Chaoshan Setay Beef Hot Pot

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: In Shantou

After check-out, visit Hanwen Shrine, built in honor of the poet Han Yu, then continue to the Chaozhou Folk Museum for an introduction to local family history and traditions. Lunch is a brined whole-goose banquet, one of the region's classic dishes.

After lunch, tour the former residence of Chen Cihong, a large residence combining Chinese and Western design and representing several traditional Chaoshan building forms.

Drive about 40 minutes to Shantou, the coastal city historically described as a gateway to eastern Guangdong and South China.

Former Residence of Chen Cihong

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: In Shantou

Devote the day to Shantou's food culture, waterfront and urban history.

Start at the Shantou Square Ferry Terminal and cross the bay by ferry. Continue to Queshi Scenic Area and take the cable car to a high viewpoint over the city.

Visit the Chaoshan Culture Expo Center, a major building within the Chaoshan History and Culture Expo Park facing Shantou Bay. On the return route, pass through Shantou Bay Tunnel, an important large-diameter undersea highway project built in a high seismic-intensity area.

Chaoshan Culture Expo Center

Lunch is a Chao-style abalone banquet at a local restaurant.

Continue to Tuo Cheng Small Park in old Shantou, where landmarks such as Nansheng Department Store and the old post office recall the city's trading history. Visit the first floor of the European-style postal building completed in 1922.

Finish with a walk along Zhengbang Road, a Chaoshan food street lined with established snack shops and local specialties.

Chaoshan Beef Ball

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: In Meizhou

After breakfast, drive about two hours to Meizhou, widely regarded as a center of Hakka culture.

Explore the Hakka World Scenic Area, a cultural park whose buildings reinterpret Hakka architecture within the surrounding landscape. The site brings together cultural displays, education, recreation and tourism.

Hakka World Scenic Area

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: In Meizhou

Travel to Dabu County and visit the Tai Po Calyx Building in Lianfeng Village. Built in 1608, the circular residence provides insight into Hakka communal values, residential design and local folklore.

Tai Po Calyx Building

After lunch, walk through Yannanfei Scenic Area, then continue to Qiaoxi Ancient Rhyme Bridge in Qiaoxi Village. Streams, old trees, bridges and mountain-backed homes form a traditional Hakka village landscape.

Yannanfei Scenic Area

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch 
Accommodation: In Meizhou

Travel to Xingning and visit Shenguangshan National Forest Park, a religious and cultural destination in eastern Guangdong.

After lunch, continue to the Xihe Bay Tourism and Cultural Industrial Park, whose attractions focus on lantern craftsmanship, cultural exhibitions and traditional public spaces.

Xihe Bay Tourism and Cultural Industrial Park

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Begin at Thousand Buddha Pagoda Temple, a temple complex with more than a thousand years of history. Continue to the Chinese Hakka Museum for a broad introduction to Hakka architecture, art, folklore and customs.

China Hakka Museum

Transfer to the airport or railway station for departure.

Service ends