Dabu

Dabu County (大埔县, Dàbù Xiàn) is a district of Meizhou, Guangdong province in China.

Majestic mountains surrounding Dabu offer panoramic views, especially during sunsets. Most visitors are overseas Chinese wishing to connect with their roots.

Towns
Dabu County has jurisdiction over 14 towns. The following are just some of the towns that may be of interest to visitors:
 * Huliao (湖寮镇) - the administrative capital and largest town
 * Baihou (百侯镇) - the county's best preserved historical town, with around 120 buildings dating from the Ming and Qing dynasties
 * Dadong (大东镇) - a scenic mountain town
 * Chayang (茶阳镇) - the former county seat, location of the famous Father and Son Double Jinshi Memorial Arches
 * Gaobei (高陂镇) - the second most populous town; famous for its ceramics industry
 * Sanhe (三河镇) - site of the Battle of Sanheba (1927), a significant military engagement during the first year of the Chinese Civil War

Talk
Basically Dabu Hakka dialect. The language gets rather incomprehensible the further you move from the city centre. Besides that, Mandarin (pǔtōnghuà) is widely spoken.

By bus


Apart from the county seat, there are also a few other towns in Dabu that can be reached directly from Meizhou, including Chayang, Gaobei and Sanhe.

Get around
From Dabu Bus Station, you can catch a public bus to just about anywhere in the county. Cheap, no air conditioning but a great way to see the countryside at a relaxed pace. A trip to Dadong to see the terraced fields of flowering vegetable farms is only ¥10. It's a bit of a hassle with Yinna Mountain. Because you may have to spend hours aimlessly waiting for the afternoon bus to come fetch you (¥12).

See
Basically this is one place that won't see any influx of tourists except maybe the overseas Chinese returning to the land of their ancestors, Dabu Hakkas. Nonetheless, what makes Dabu the Shangri La of Hakkaland is the stunning mountains that surround Dabu county. You get the "feel" as your car weaves in and out of mountain roads coming and exiting Dabu. At Dadong, when in bloom, the terraces are stunningly beautiful (around March/April). The temple on top of Yinna Mountain (阴那山) is beautiful. Walking around town is fun in itself. At street corners, under the cool of the shadows of trees, groups of people play Russian Poker, it is endemic. If you are making your way to Yongding for the Tulous then you can skip Dabu's very own tulou, otherwise it's just a 3 minute trip from the city centre. Chayang comes out attractively on leaflet, but the real thing could be a letdown. Simply because whatever economic activity along the trader's road don't exist anymore more probable than not because of dwindling visitors.



Eat
Food is cheap and consists primarily of Dabu fare. Make sure you tell the chef or cook "Go easy on the salt". Dabu food is always on the salty side.

Drink
Beers are easily available and cheap. Except maybe at the restaurants and at hotels' premises, more probable than not, you pick up your beers from the supermarket and drink in your room. There don't seem to be any bars. pubs or a public place to down your booze.



Sleep
Plenty of options. Decent rooms at decent hotels are around ¥200. There are also medium cost rooms at ¥80 to ¥100. Avoid going to the really cheap cheap lodgings. They are not for foreigners.



Go next
To Yongding, where the Fujian Tulou are. By bus Y35. And from the same bus station at Yongding another local bus to Hukeng, the heart of tulou territory. You land up at the rear entrance of the government showcased Zhencheng Building (entrance fee ¥70).