Diaolou around Chikan

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Hi All,

Not a lot of help in the hostel this morning as the guy pointed for me to head off in the wrong direction. on my hired bicycle, which was compounded by a lady who also told me to keep going in that direction. It only took me about 20 kms in the wrong direction. It didn't matter as whichever direction you go in it impossible to not find these incredible buildings. They are almost everywhere.

So a diaolou. these buildings were built by coolies who had been working abroad in the Americas, Indonesia, Malaysia. The forceful opening up of Canton by the British in the Opium Wars created famine and destitution due to a high influx of migrants looking for work and the destruction of lives due to the opium trade. A high percentage of men from around Kaiping decided to go and work abroad.

On returning to China these men were very rich indeed. Now Canton in the 19th and early 20th centuries was a dangerous place with bandits kidnapping wealthy merchants and demanding high ransoms for the return of the abductees. The solution was to build these towers which are in essence a small village. A family would live on each floor and the top of the diaolou was used as a communal area and lookout.

The outrageous style comes from the fact that on returning to Canton the wealthy men wanted houses with western influences like from what some had seen with their own eyes or on postcards. They are so outrageous because Cantonese builders had no idea what the men were describing and hence took liberties with proportions and hence the really lavish designs.



The diaolou in ZiLi were particularly beautiful and you were also allowed inside all the way to the top. i just ambled back to Chikan and found some really pretty ones set in the paddy fields.

A really amazing experience. Just get on a bike and head north, west, east or south and you will find these incredible buildings.

Enjoy the photos

Jah Bless

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