Meizhou, Guangdong | 梅州广东
Day 5 | 第五天
Yearning Tea Plantation | 雁南飞茶园
We spent the morning visiting the grounds of the Yearning Tea Plantation | 雁南飞茶园 in the mountains of Meizhou. This was my first time visiting a tea plantation; even though tea is so much a part of my daily life, I’ve never considered visiting a tea plantation. There’s a sign when you enter stating that the Yearning Tea Plantation is the first AAAAA (5A) level tourist designation in eastern Guangdong. I didn’t pay close attention to this rating system when I first arrived in China but started to see this system listed in a number of places.
This is what it means:
A tourist attraction rating system 旅游景区质量等级 is used in China to score the quality of a destination based on the following categories: safety, cleanliness, sanitation, shopping, and transportation.
Yearning Tea Plantation had the highest rating.
We started our tour at the visitors’ center where we had an unobstructed view of the sprawling tea fields. The fields seemed endless, stretching from one end of the horizon to the other. We were served the local oolong tea noted for its ability to soothe the throat as we watched a performance of traditional Hakka songs. I later learned that the company logo, a flying wild goose, represents the Hakka migrating from the north to the south and is a tribute to the Hakka.
We stopped by Hakka Park for lunch. Hakka Park reminded me of a cross between Epcot Center and a geography themed-hotel in Las Vegas where a certain aspect of culture is intentionally displayed for an audience.
It was designed to be as if one was walking through a generic old Hakka village where you could see traditional ways of life. It felt more like a manufactured experience and was different from the tour of Hongkeng village which was an active community. It was still interesting to observe nonetheless; you could see how the park tried to emulate a Hakka village through the built environment.
While we were there, a large group of school-aged children were on a class trip; I was intrigued by how they were experiencing Hakka Park. Students seem the same everywhere: many were interested in hanging out with peers and buying snacks — rather than engaging with the cultural demonstrations — just like the many students I have worked with and just like when I was once a school-age student.
I do know that there is an impact when children see parts of their lived experiences reflected in the institutions around them.
China Hakka Museum | 中国客家博物馆
In the afternoon, we visited the China Hakka Museum which put some of the things we experienced over the last few days in context.
It’s the only museum in China dedicated to collecting, preserving, and showcasing Hakka history and culture. The museum’s core exhibition, Hakka People, consist of five parts: 1) origin of Hakka 2) Hakka Customs 3) Hakka Roundhouses 4) Humanity of Hakka 5) Future of Hakka. It is considered to be the first national museum entirely dedicated to Hakka history and culture.
Hakka symbolism is embedded throughout the architecture of the museum. When you walk into the main hall of the museum, the first thing that captures your eyes is a big Chinese character carved on a white granite wall. We learned that the character is a special word meaning “I” in Hakka. In the same room, there is a circular feature on the ceiling symbolizing the Hakka roundhouses | Tulous.
Learning about the long migratory history of Hakka helped me have a more nuanced understanding of the term guest people | 客家. Traditions such as language, food, and architecture are forms of resistance and resilience (especially in the face of displacement) that helped construct a strong sense of Hakka identity not only in China but throughout the diaspora.
We ended the evening with an hour long flight from Meizhou | 梅州 to Guangzhou (Canton) | 广州 to continue the next leg of our trip. ■