Kaiping Diaolou and Villages feature the diaolou, fortified multi-story towers generally made of reinforced concrete. These towers are located mainly in Kaiping County, Guangdong Province.
The first towers were built during the early Qing Dynasty and they reach a peak in the 1920s and 1930s, when there were more than 3,000 of these structures. Today, about 1,833 diaolou remain in Kaiping. The buildings take three forms: communal towers built by several families as contemporary refuge, residential houses as fortified residences and watch towers.
Kaiping has traditionally been a region of major emigration abroad and a melting pot of ideas and trends brought back by overseas Chinese. As a result, many diaolou and their surrounding villages incorporate architectural features from the East and the West.
In 2007, UNESCO named the Kaiping Diaolou and Villages in China as a World Heritage Site. The property consists of four groups of Diaolou, totaling some 1,800 tower houses, with twenty of the most symbolic ones.
The first towers were built during the early Qing Dynasty and they reach a peak in the 1920s and 1930s, when there were more than 3,000 of these structures. Today, about 1,833 diaolou remain in Kaiping. The buildings take three forms: communal towers built by several families as contemporary refuge, residential houses as fortified residences and watch towers.
Kaiping has traditionally been a region of major emigration abroad and a melting pot of ideas and trends brought back by overseas Chinese. As a result, many diaolou and their surrounding villages incorporate architectural features from the East and the West.
In 2007, UNESCO named the Kaiping Diaolou and Villages in China as a World Heritage Site. The property consists of four groups of Diaolou, totaling some 1,800 tower houses, with twenty of the most symbolic ones.