Meizhou is best visited between September and April, when the hills are green and the weather is cool enough for walking. The pomelo harvest in late September and October is worth timing a visit around: the local pomelos are exceptionally good — large, sweet, and nothing like the bitter variety sold in most cities. They are sold at roadside stalls throughout the harvest season.
The summer months (June through August) are hot and humid, and the mountain hiking that makes the surrounding countryside interesting is uncomfortable in the heat. The Lantern Festival in the first lunar month (January or February) brings Hakka tradition to the surface: dragon dances, ancestor worship ceremonies, and the lighting of lanterns that the diaspora communities abroad perform in parallel on the same night.