A combination of Chinese and Western watchtowers. A one-day trip to Kaiping, Guangdong.

A combination of Chinese and Western watchtowers. A one-day trip to Kaiping, Guangdong. Our company organized a one-day trip to Kaiping, Guangdong. The bus starts from Guangzhou and passes through Tangkou, Yanggang, Chikan, and enters Kaiping...

Chinese and Western Watchtowers One-day trip to Kaiping, Guangdong Our company organized a one-day trip to Kaiping. The car started from Guangzhou and passed through Tangkou, Yangang, Chikan, and entered Kaiping. Along the way, in the fields and trees on both sides of the highway, various watchtowers were scattered for dozens of kilometers. Under the bright sunshine, these Greek, Roman, and Gothic buildings looked particularly dignified and prominent. Our first stop was Majianglong Village. From a distance, the watchtowers are scattered among the dense trees, integrating with the surrounding residential buildings and natural environment. We visited two watchtowers: Linlu and Junlu. These two watchtowers, like other watchtowers, are multi-story tower-style buildings that integrate defense, residence, and Chinese and Western architectural art. The watchtower is a reinforced concrete structure with exquisite and beautiful shape, full of the sentiment of South Asian and Indian architecture. It is a typical residential watchtower. When I pushed open the heavy steel door of the watchtower, I seemed to hear history sighing heavily. Entering inside, the first thing that catches our eyes are the floral floor tiles, wall prints and European chandeliers brought back from abroad, which seem to tell us about the prominence and prosperity of that year. It is said that the owner of the building was a very wealthy family at that time. Not only the tiles and furniture were shipped from Europe, but also the cement and steel bars were shipped back from the United Kingdom and Germany. The first floor is the kitchen and the hall, each guarded by two thick dark iron doors, which are heavily guarded. In the middle of the hall, there is a splendid hollow gilded wood carving shrine for ancestor worship, which is quite solemn and solemn. Walking along the narrow and steep stairs into the interior of the watchtower, I found that there is a patio space on the floor of each floor that is connected to the next floor. The tour guide said that it is a passage for transporting things upstairs. It is covered with steel mesh when not in use. In the bedroom upstairs, I saw an old dressing table, an old-fashioned big bed, and a thermos. In the master bedroom, I also saw a large exquisite mahogany carved bed, with a dulcimer placed in front of the bed. A photo of the owner of the building was hung on the wall. The window on the right was small and framed with thick iron bars. Through the iron bars, one could see the endless rice fields outside the window, stretching into the distance like a green carpet. At this moment, I feel like time has frozen. Looking at these ancient tables, chairs and beds around me, I feel sad imagining how they lived and ate here back then. When you get to the platform, you have a wide view. Looking down, you can see groups of people passing through the alleys, filing in, just to get a glimpse of the watchtower's heavy past and luxurious predecessor. There is a cool breeze blowing on the platform, and the air is filled with the aroma of earth, which is intoxicating. Looking around, the wild grass in the surrounding fields is green, the stream is gurgling, the bamboo forest and fruit trees in front of and behind the house are swaying in the wind, the green waves are rolling, and the rapeseed that has not yet been harvested is golden and beautiful. There is a pavilion that combines Chinese and Western styles in the middle of the platform. The six columns and dome are in the ancient Roman style, but the top is a Chinese-style hexagonal pointed glazed tile roof. It is amazing how Chinese and Western architectural cultures can be so integrated! Later, I also visited the watchtowers and garden villas in Zili Village, and saw how those overseas Chinese and wealthy people who returned to their hometowns a hundred years ago, in order to maintain the prosperity of their families, painstakingly built indestructible defensive fortresses in the villages of their hometown, creating paradises. The watchtowers we saw along the way, regardless of their height or size, were equally ingenious. The internal structure and layout of the watchtowers are roughly the same. There are several rooms on each floor, multiple kitchens on each floor, and various lookout points, concealed muzzles and other facilities to defend against bandits. The most conspicuous thing is that all the windows of the watchtowers are equipped with dense iron windows and doors. The feeling of a tight barrier brings people back to the era of endless banditry and gunpowder smoke. The ups and downs in the past hundred years have washed away the luster of the Kaiping Diaolou. Nowadays, most of the watchtowers are empty. The rusty iron locks tightly hold the heavy iron gates, as if they have locked up history and frozen time. However, those watchtowers facing each other from a distance and adjacent to each other have too many long-standing stories. Even if the buildings are gray and old, and the doors and windows are rusty, they cannot hide the luxury and scenery of the past. People will never forget that behind this scenery is the bitterness and sweat of the previous generation. They still remember the miserable situation of selling piglets, and they cannot forget the pain of traveling across the ocean and leaving their hometown. After all, until you return home in glory, your home is the eternal support in your heart. At dusk, the sun sets, and the returning birds circle around. Under the big banyan tree at the entrance of the village, an old man was weaving a dustpan. While weaving, he was singing a folk song called Kaiping Mai Ji Tune. Two children were chasing and playing next to him. In the twilight, the smoke from the cooking pots curls up, and under the setting sun, the watchtowers stand. In front of you, it seems like a pure and beautiful picture is unfolding, and time is like a frozen poem.