The negative impact of climate change on rural householders is more direct and stronger than the effect on their counterparts in urban area, and their perception of climate change is an important prerequisite for adaptation strategies. There have been many related research studies on this subject, but very few have undertaken a typical household investigation. Furthermore, a micro empirical study based on a comparative study of rural households in different areas has not been reported. Two villages in a typical agricultural area in the inland central area of Henan Province and the eastern coastal area of Fujian Province were selected. The participatory rural appraisal (PRA) method was used, and 144 and 153 valid questionnaires were completed by central and eastern households, respectively. The structural differences in the perception of climate change and its impact, and their livelihood adaptations, are explored from the perspective of the household. The results showed that farmer perceptions of temperature and precipitation variation were direct and robust, and they had similarly strong views on the strength and the period of climate warming. However, inland farmers' perceptions were more sensitive to precipitation to some extent, and nearly half of the households attributed warming to human factors. The perceptions of human activities, such as industrial emissions, car increases, personal and family consumption, agricultural pollution, and rural construction, etc., were significantly different between inland and coastal villages. Overall, household perceptions were lower than expected; and the livelihood adaptation strategies were diverse. These included becoming migrant workers, changing cropping patterns, constructing infrastructure, and diversifying management, etc.