Kaiping Diaolou

Diaolou (Chinese碉楼/碉楼) are fortified residential towers with up to nine floors, which were built to protect from looters and thieves. They are found mainly in the southern prefecture-level city of Jiangmen in Guangdong Province, China. They are to be found there, especially in the city of Kaiping, but also in the cities of Enping, Taishan and the City Xinhui District. In Sichuan province, they also occur: in the northwest of the province in a circle Rongzhag or Rongxar ( Danba丹巴 县), in the Autonomous District Garzê the Tibetans and to the north of the province in Zhibo ( circle Barkam (Ch Ma'erkang xian ) Autonomous Area Ngawa the Tibetan and Qiang ).

Were built by members of the Diaolou wealthy overseas Chinese - many of which dated from Guangdong - or by themselves after their return. The first residential towers were built at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty; its heyday was - caused by the Taiping rebellion - between 1860 and the 1920s and - 30s. Many of them were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, stopped for building materials or neglected. Been preserved nevertheless are over 3000 buildings of its kind in Kaiping alone there are 1833, approximately 500 in Taishan.

Typical of the Diaolou are largely unadorned lower floors with regularly arranged windows, topped by a cantilevered, palatial roof floor - often with loggias and terraces. Access to the building is often via a staircase. Especially at the top floors, but also the overall decor of distinct echoes of architectural styles of the host countries can be seen, especially on Renaissance and Baroque. Most of the obtained today Diaolou ( from the 20th century ) were built of reinforced concrete and secured with steel doors, some with guns and searchlights.

Among the best known Diaolou: Ruishi lou瑞 石 楼( behind the village Jinjiangli, Xianggang ), built in 1921, the highest of all nine floors; then the Fangshi Denglou方 氏 灯 楼, built in 1920, eight floors with a spotlight on the top like a lighthouse; the Bianchouzhu Lou ( " Leaning Tower " ), built in 1903 in the village Nanxing beside a pond, seven stories high; the Li Garden, in Beiyi Xiang, built in 1936 by Xie Weili, a Chinese emigrant to the United States.

Heritage List

The Diaolou of Kaiping (Guangdong ) are on the list of monuments of the People's Republic of China ( 5-502 ) and since 2007 on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites since 2001.

The Diaolou in the village Zhibo (Sichuan ) in a circle Barkam ( Ma'erkang马尔康 县xian ) ( Zhibo Diaolou直 波 碉楼) are since 2001 on the list of monuments of the People's Republic of China ( 5-384 ).

The Diaolou in a circle Rongzhag (Chinese: Danba, Sichuan ) ( Danba gudiaoqun丹巴 古 碉 群) are since 2006 on the list of monuments of the People's Republic of China ( 6-697 ).