World Cultural Heritage - Kaiping Diaolou

Kaiping Diaolou and villages are located in Kaiping City, Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province. They are multi-storey tower-style buildings that integrate defense, living, and Chinese and Western architectural art. The Diaolou was built in the mid-16th century in the late Ming Dynasty. The early Diaolou was mainly traditional Chinese residential buildings, built by overseas Chinese. From the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, a large number of Chinese workers who traveled to the United States and Canada built Diaolou after accumulating some industries. They also brought back the architectural styles of other countries, incorporating elements of Western architecture such as ancient Roman and Greek columns, Byzantine dome roofs, mountain flowers, and Baroque architectural styles, and the architectural styles of the Byzantine and Gothic periods in the Middle Ages in Europe. The architectural shape is mostly upper and lower simple, which is a combination of Chinese and Western architectural art. The Kaiping Diaolou Cultural Tourism Area is mainly composed of Liyuan, Zili Village Diaolou Group and Majianglong Diaolou Group. At its peak, there were more than 3,000, and in the 21st century, there were more than 1,800 well-preserved Diaolou in Kaiping, scattered in various villages. In 2007, Kaiping Diaolou and villages were included in the 'World Heritage List'. Kaiping Diaolou can be divided into green brick buildings, mud buildings, stone buildings, and reinforced concrete buildings according to building materials; according to location and function, they can be divided into watchtowers, public buildings, and residential buildings. The watchtower is also known as the lantern tower or the watchtower. It is generally funded by the whole village and is located at the entrance of the village or outside the mountain. It is used for lookout and sentry. The Fang's Lighthouse and the South Gate North Gate Tower are the most representative. The public building is a Diaolou built by the whole village or several villagers. For example, the Yinglong Building in Sanmenli Village and the Tianlu Building in Majianglong Village have simple Diaolou shapes, few external decorations, and strong defense. When an accident occurs, the villagers hide in the building, so the public building is generally located in the middle or side of the village. The residential building is funded by the owner alone, with complete living facilities, beautiful appearance, both living and defense functions, mostly 4-5 floors, the most numerous, built behind the village. Among the many types of Diaolou, residential buildings are the most numerous and common. The scenic area also preserves the watchtowers represented by Fang's Lighthouse and the public buildings represented by Yinglong Building. Most of the existing Diaolou buildings are made of reinforced concrete. The indoor space is mostly narrow, and in order to save expenses, the floors are mostly covered with wooden boards; there are windows opening downwards on the surrounding walls, equipped with iron windows; on the roof, in order to accurately warn, there are protruding square or round corner castles, equipped with shooting holes. In the Diaolou, the gate is the only way in and out. The door panel is made of heavy steel plate. There are usually three or four locks inside the door. There is an iron gate outside the door. Above the door, there is a small hole, which is very strong. The Kaiping Diaolou Group is a classic work of integrating Chinese and Western architecture. We contemporary people appreciate them, they are very artistic, and they shine with the surrounding rural landscape, witnessing the prosperity and prosperity of the local area for hundreds of years.