Xiamei Village (下梅村) sits 6 km east of Wuyishan City, inside the Wuyi World Heritage buffer zone. The village was founded in the Sui dynasty but its defining era is the Qing: from the early 17th century onwards, Fujian rock tea was collected here and dispatched north in a 13,000-km overland caravan — the Wanli Tea Road (万里茶道) — to Kyakhta on the Russian border and onward to Moscow. At its peak, the village handled enough tea that the man-made Dangxi Canal running through its centre was a working cargo waterway.
More than 70 Ming and Qing shophouses still stand along the canal. The surviving buildings are prized for their brick, stone and wood carvings — historical scenes, folk mascots, flora. The Zou Family Ancestral Hall is the best-preserved and most important single building; the alleys radiating off it reward an unhurried hour.
Practical: 60 CNY admission. DiDi from Wuyishan South Gate 15 minutes (30 CNY). Combine with a morning in the scenic area the same day, or as a stand-alone half-day on a tea-focused trip. Best early morning or late afternoon — tour groups land around 10:30.