Kaiping (China)

Inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage, this is an unusual, out of the ordinary place to visit when in southern China.

Not widely known about and extremely rare, the "Diaolou" are a unique kind of architectural structure. Constructed around the end of the 19th century/beginning of the 20th century by Chinese migrants who had returned from North American and Australasia, they exhibit a fusion of both Chinese and Western forms and styles. These fortified buildings, constructed over several floors and built from stone, brick or concrete, could be used as lookout towers, places of refuge or as residences for rich families. There are almost 1,800 in the area around Kaiping, though there were more than 3,000 during their golden age.