Longyan & Gutian

The hub city of western Fujian's Hakka region, with revolutionary history at the Gutian Meeting site, the arcaded old Zhongshan Street and its Hakka snacks, and spring cherry blossoms among Yongfu's tea gardens; also a transit point for the Yongding tulou and Liancheng's Guanzhai Mountain.

Longyan, in western Fujian, is the hub city of the region's Hakka heartland, governing the districts of Xinluo and Yongding and the counties and county-level city of Shanghang, Changting, Liancheng, Wuping and Zhangping. It was an important part of the Central Soviet Area, and the Gutian Meeting, held in 1929 in Gutian, Shanghang, established the principles of 'building the Party ideologically and the army politically'; the Gutian tourist area is a national AAAAA (top-rated) scenic area. This destination uses downtown Longyan as its base, and sightseeing falls into three areas: in the city, the arcaded old Zhongshan Street, Longyan Cave, the Central Soviet Area (Western Fujian) History Museum and Longkong Cave; to the northwest, Gutian (the meeting site, memorial hall, Songyin Hall and Zhongxing Hall), Jiaoyang Wenchang Pavilion and the South China Tiger Park on Meihua Mountain, and further west, Linjiang Tower in Shanghang town and Caixi; to the east, the cherry blossom tea gardens of Yongfu in Zhangping and the Xiaochi Yunding tea garden. The Yongding tulou, Guanzhai Mountain and Peitian Village in Liancheng are covered as separate destinations and are easy to reach from Longyan. The best seasons are Mar–May and Sep–Nov, with cherry blossom season in Feb–Mar; summer is cool in the mountains, but watch for typhoon rains. Getting there: Longyan Station has high-speed trains to Xiamen (about 1 hour), Fuzhou, Guangzhou and elsewhere, and Guanzhaishan Airport is in Liancheng. Allow 2–3 days; driving is the most convenient way to get around. Local specialities include taro buns, doutang (a hearty soup with starch dumplings), boji ban (steamed rice rolls), Hetian chicken from Changting, and Shanghang dried radish, one of the 'Eight Dried Delicacies of Western Fujian'.

Top sights

• Gutian Conference Site – The site of the 1929 Gutian Conference, where the Liao family ancestral hall became the venue and where the principle of “ideological leade…
• Gutian Conference Memorial Hall – Using artefacts, scene reconstructions and multimedia displays to tell the history of the Gutian Conference. It is the first stop on any Gu…
• Yongfu Cherry Blossom Tea Garden – A highland tea estate in Yongfu, Zhangping, run with Taiwanese investment. Tens of thousands of cherry trees bloom among terraced tea rows…
• Songyin Hall & Zhongxing Hall (Gutian) – Mao Zedong’s former residence Songyin Hall during the Gutian Conference, and Zhongxing Hall, headquarters of the Fourth Red Army; both Hakk…
• Jiaoyang Wenchang Pavilion – A six-story timber pavilion first built in the Ming dynasty, with a distinctive form, and the venue of the First Western Fujian Party Congr…
• Meihuashan South China Tiger Park – A South China tiger breeding base inside the Meihuashan National Nature Reserve, where visitors can see South China tigers and primeval for…
• Yunding Tea Garden & Xiaochi Cherry Valley – A high-altitude tea garden in Xiaochi Town, Xinluo District, with terraced tea rows and cloud seas, and cherry blossoms in spring that comp…
• Longkong Cave – A large limestone cave in Xinluo District with underground rivers and rich stalactite formations; a national 4A scenic area on the outskirt…
• Zhongshan Street – The arcaded old street of Longyan’s old town, home to the former site of the Western Fujian Workers’ and Peasants’ Bank and Hakka snacks, a…
• Longyan Cave – The namesake of Longyan city: a cave on Cuiping Mountain east of the city, with cliff inscriptions from successive dynasties, and a hiking…
• Central Soviet Area (Minxi) History Museum – A red history museum inside the Western Fujian Revolutionary Martyrs’ Cemetery, systematically showing the history of the western Fujian So…
• Tiangong Mountain – A Buddhist mountain in northern Xinluo District, with a temple on the summit and forest trails, where Longyan residents hike and worship on…
• Mao Zedong Caixi Survey Memorial – A red heritage cluster in Caixi Town, Shanghang, where Mao Zedong wrote “Survey of Caixi Township,” and a national classic red tourism scen…
• Linjiang Tower – A Republican-era building on the bank of the Ting River in Shanghang county town, where Mao Zedong wrote “Cai Sang Zi: Double Ninth Festiva…

Where to eat

• Laodazhong Qingtangfen (Zhongshan Road Old Shop) – An old-established Longyan clear-broth rice noodle shop serving rice noodles in pork-bone broth with beef, salted pork…

Itineraries

• Western Fujian Hakka Villages & Yongding Tulou Tour – A western Fujian Hakka route starting from Longyan and covering Gutian, Peitian, Mount Guanzhai, and the Yongding Tulou