Visit the Kaiping Diaolou Outstanding Universal Value
Blondie in China (Amy) has been wanting to visit the Kaiping Diaolou for so many years and she was so excited to finally get the opportunity! These structures feature a fascinating blend of Western and Chinese design, and the reason why will surprise you...
In 2007, UNESCO named the Kaiping Diaolou and Villages (开平碉楼与村落) a World Heritage Site. UNESCO wrote, "...the Diaolou ... display a complex and flamboyant fusion of Chinese and Western structural and decorative forms. They reflect the significant role of émigré Kaiping people in the development of several countries in South Asia, Australasia, and North America, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the close links between overseas Kaiping and their ancestral homes. The property inscribed here consists of four groups of Diaolou, totaling some 1,800 tower houses in their village settings." The four restored groups of Kaiping diaolou are in: Zilicun village (自力村) of Tangkou township (塘口镇), Sanmenli village (三门里) of Chikan township (赤坎镇), Majianglong cluster (马降龙) of Baihe township (百合镇), and Jinjiangli village (锦江里) of Xiangang township (蚬冈镇).
The Kaiping diaolou was the location for parts of the filming of 2010 movie Let the Bullets Fly (让子弹飞).
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