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Posted On Thursday, December 9, 2010 at
at
6:01 PM
by Alvin
Having left the unforgettable Tulou (土樓) behind, we headed into the back countries of Fujian (福建) where buses were infrequent and packed with farmers and villagers; so we connected three mini buses during the best part of a day, over the townships of Hu Keng (湖坑), Yun Ding (永定) and Tai Pu (大埔), before we arrived to our intended destination of Meizhou (梅州). We passed through scenic farmlands as well as villages and quirky bus stops on our way to Meizhou. Meizhou, tucked away at the Northeastern corner of Guangdong Province, turned out to be pleasant and warranted a longer stay after the hectic schedule amongst the Tulou in the past few days. We visited The Thousand Buddhas Pagoda (千佛塔) about 5 km outside the centre of Meizhou and for our dinner, we sampled the famed original and the best, Hakka dishes - Braised pork in dried vegetables (梅菜扣肉) as well as Hakka Tofu - best dinners so far on this trip. We moved on reluctantly from this restful sojourn and headed for Teozhou (潮州) - a famous Guangdong (廣東) city known for its distinct culture. We found Teozhou a real old-timer; the cityscape was a leaf-out of the 1970s, seemingly bypassed by the present Chinese modernisation juggernaut - we found Teozhou to be full of old buildings (full of character but in need for renovation). Teozhou's star attraction was the riverside promenade which did not disappoint. We walked by the river (韓江) for over an hour passing kite-flyers, camera-clicking tourists like us and swimmers, for the weather was un-seasonally warm (26C!) and we took time to savour the gorgeous sights of the famous Teozhou monument (廣濟門) and the photogenic Xiang Tze Bridge (湘子橋).
Posted On Sunday, December 5, 2010 at
at
5:59 PM
by Alvin
I have read a lot about the ancient and giant Hakka living quarters called Tulou (客家土樓) in Fujian (福建) province for a long while, but I was still not prepared for the stunning vista of first coming face to face as well as entering these huge structures. More interestingly, these fabulous looking "houses" were not built for tourists nor had their occupants moved out and been replaced by souvenir shops - these Hakka buildings are still being "lived-in" ! So we saw clothes hanging out to dry, residents cooking and paid absolutely no attention to strange camera-clicking tourists fussing over their open kitchens and so on, water-drinking wells being used for daily use as well as residents going about their card-playing and mahjong-gambling as they had for hundreds of years ! These clusters of Hakka structures were designed and built to ward off bandits and such that a whole family and extended members could live under "one roof". The clusters of Tulou we visited were 田螺坑, 洪坑土樓群 (=客家土樓民俗文化村) and 高北土樓群 where we admired such classical Tulou as 承啟樓 (圓樓之王), 振成樓 (土樓王子), 奎聚樓 (宮殿式土樓), 福裕樓 (府第式土樓) and 如升樓 (袖珍土樓); representing the biggest, smallest and the most spectacular Tulou in this region. We stayed two nights in the picturesque tiny villages of Ta Sha (塔下) and Hung Keng (洪坑) where numerous Tulou abound, and took some superb photos in the atmospheric morning mists when tourists had not arrived en mass. Also, interestingly, the whole population of Ta Sha Village were surnamed Zhang (張) ! We absolutely enjoyed our stay in these quaint villages !
Having left the unforgettable Tulou (土樓) behind, we headed into the back countries of Fujian (福建) where buses were infrequent and packed with farmers and villagers; so we connected three mini buses during the best part of a day, over the townships of Hu Keng (湖坑), Yun Ding (永定) and Tai Pu (大埔), before we arrived to our intended destination of Meizhou (梅州). We passed through scenic farmlands as well as villages and quirky bus stops on our way to Meizhou. Meizhou, tucked away at the Northeastern corner of Guangdong Province, turned out to be pleasant and warranted a longer stay after the hectic schedule amongst the Tulou in the past few days. We visited The Thousand Buddhas Pagoda (千佛塔) about 5 km outside the centre of Meizhou and for our dinner, we sampled the famed original and the best, Hakka dishes - Braised pork in dried vegetables (梅菜扣肉) as well as Hakka Tofu - best dinners so far on this trip. We moved on reluctantly from this restful sojourn and headed for Teozhou (潮州) - a famous Guangdong (廣東) city known for its distinct culture. We found Teozhou a real old-timer; the cityscape was a leaf-out of the 1970s, seemingly bypassed by the present Chinese modernisation juggernaut - we found Teozhou to be full of old buildings (full of character but in need for renovation). Teozhou's star attraction was the riverside promenade which did not disappoint. We walked by the river (韓江) for over an hour passing kite-flyers, camera-clicking tourists like us and swimmers, for the weather was un-seasonally warm (26C!) and we took time to savour the gorgeous sights of the famous Teozhou monument (廣濟門) and the photogenic Xiang Tze Bridge (湘子橋).
I have read a lot about the ancient and giant Hakka living quarters called Tulou (客家土樓) in Fujian (福建) province for a long while, but I was still not prepared for the stunning vista of first coming face to face as well as entering these huge structures. More interestingly, these fabulous looking "houses" were not built for tourists nor had their occupants moved out and been replaced by souvenir shops - these Hakka buildings are still being "lived-in" ! So we saw clothes hanging out to dry, residents cooking and paid absolutely no attention to strange camera-clicking tourists fussing over their open kitchens and so on, water-drinking wells being used for daily use as well as residents going about their card-playing and mahjong-gambling as they had for hundreds of years ! These clusters of Hakka structures were designed and built to ward off bandits and such that a whole family and extended members could live under "one roof". The clusters of Tulou we visited were 田螺坑, 洪坑土樓群 (=客家土樓民俗文化村) and 高北土樓群 where we admired such classical Tulou as 承啟樓 (圓樓之王), 振成樓 (土樓王子), 奎聚樓 (宮殿式土樓), 福裕樓 (府第式土樓) and 如升樓 (袖珍土樓); representing the biggest, smallest and the most spectacular Tulou in this region. We stayed two nights in the picturesque tiny villages of Ta Sha (塔下) and Hung Keng (洪坑) where numerous Tulou abound, and took some superb photos in the atmospheric morning mists when tourists had not arrived en mass. Also, interestingly, the whole population of Ta Sha Village were surnamed Zhang (張) ! We absolutely enjoyed our stay in these quaint villages !
