Kaiping Fortresses

A few weeks ago, I went with a couple of friends to visit Kaiping County in Guangdong Province. A mere two and a half hours by bus from Guangzhou, Kaiping is famous for its diaolou’s, which are fortified buildings built back in the day by wealthy Cantonese business people. Many of the Cantonese who went abroad in the late 19th century decided to come home and use some of their newly acquired wealth to build these fortresses that are now so abundant in this area. Living abroad for so long had given them a taste for Western architecture, so these fortresses were designed with European or middle eastern flair. The Kaiping fortresses were recently conferred UNESCO World Heritage status.

These buildings didn’t only serve as a way to flaunt their owners wealth, but they were also designed to protect against the bandits that were so plentiful in this area of Guangdong. During the turn of the century, the area sat in the middle of three different provinces, with none of them ever taking responsibility for Kaiping. This meant that Kaipiing was largely police free, giving free reign to the roaming groups of bandits. With this in mind, the owners built the fortresses as high as possible so that those inside could have a far reaching view of what’s around them. In fact, only a handful of diaolou’s were built for personal use. Most were constructed as communal fortresses where everyone would be able to seek shelter in the event that the bandits came around.

First view out the window after waking up.

Off to the market

Completely jealous of this guys morning commute.

With only a day to spend exploring, I woke up early to take some morning pictures in the village that we were staying at. Chikan village in itself was a great reason to visit. The morning market here was bustling, with locals buying their groceries for the day and getting a chance to catch up with friends over breakfast. I was the only laowai as far as the eye could see, which is always the best. After watching some guy skillfully gut a snake and another gentleman smoke from something that resembled a bamboo bong, I went back to the hostel to wake the others and get the day started.

Great architecture in Chikan.

We decided to that the best way to get around was to rent some bikes. I want to point out that the decision to rent bikes in July in Guangdong was made as a group. We all soon realised what a silly decision this actually was. I was starting to develop sweat patches under my arms while adjusting my saddle height. For the other two, this came slightly later but after 20 minutes in the saddle, I can safely say we all came to the conclusion that it was going to be a very hot day.

This guy was working the fields in +35C temperatures. Made our bike ride look like childs play.

When we got to the diaolou’s we were faced with the always annoying, but seemingly unavoidable entrance fee just to see the buildings. We opted to try and find an alternative way in, but had no success. This prompted us to keep riding to the next group of diaolou’s. At this point, the temperature seemed to be hovering around 38 celcius and with an empty stomach, food was our priority. After arriving, we opted for some brownish noodle soup topped with some mystery meat but it was better than nothing. After finishing the food, we went to see how we could get a glimpse of the diaolou’s without actually paying the entrance fee.

In comes our knight in shining armour, the man in the blue t-shirt. He offers to show us an abandoned diaolou that is not only free of charge, but also accessible from the inside! It seemed too good to be true, but as we followed our new leader through some narrow alleyways, there was indeed an abandoned diaolou with the door wide open. We made it to the roof of the building just as the rain was beginning. But our impromptu tour guide had just enough time to show us some of the more beautiful diaolou’s that could be seen from the roof.

Our knight in shining armour.

Down comes the rain.

Showing us everything thats great in Kaiping.

The rain kept going for the entirety of our return trip to the hostel, which was a welcome break from the sweltering heat in the morning. Upon returning to Chikan, we were greeted with dozens of tour buses that unleashed their passengers on this tiny village. I was confused as to why so many decided to visit Chikan in particular but later found out that this village was the setting for a famous Chinese movie. And with its position so near to the diaolous, this was inevitably going to become a supplementary stop for the weekend tours.

And the obligatory post exercise beer.