Watchtower Group of Zili Village

Kaiping Diaolou and Villages (UNESCO/NHK)

Kaiping Diaolou and Villages feature the Diaolou, multi-storeyed defensive village houses in Kaiping, which 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. There are four groups of Diaolou and twenty of the most symbolic ones are inscribed on the List. These buildings take three forms: communal towers built by several families and used as temporary refuge, residential towers built by individual rich families and used as fortified residences, and watch towers. Built of stone, pise , brick or concrete, these buildings represent a complex and confident fusion between Chinese and Western architectural styles. Retaining a harmonious relationship with the surrounding landscape, the Diaolou testify to the final flowering of local building traditions that started in the Ming period in response to local banditry.

Source: UNESCO TV / © NHK Nippon Hoso Kyokai
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The Yunhuan Lou Diaolou Tower Villa in Kaiping, China

Another elaborate villa in Zili Village was built by Fang Wenchen in 1921 and had five levels. This man happened to earn his wealth in Malaysia and again, all the antique furniture inside was original and had another exquisite ancestral shrine.

UNESCO World Heritage Site Zili Village consists of three sub-villages constructed between 1821 and 1920 and has nine Diaolou, a group of six western style villas, and single story houses built with blue brick. They were all built around the same time by prosperous emigrants and are similar in concept.

I think the diaolou gave new meaning to the words, gated community...