Kaiping Villagescape 碉鄉開平 Photo Gallery by Ray at pbase.com

Kaiping Villagescape 碉鄉開平

Kaiping in Guangdong Province, is about 3 hours drive from Hong Kong and
is the hometown of many Chinese natives who had been living and working abroad
during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The ancient villages around Kaiping, feature Diaolous (multi-storied defensive village houses)
built by those emigrant labourers which displayed a complex and flamboyant fusion
of Chinese and Western structural and decorative forms.

These Diaolous take three main forms: communal towers resided by several families and used as temporary refuge;
residential towers built by individual rich families;and watch towers.

Retaining a harmonious relationship with the surrounding agricultural landscape and traditional Southern Chinese villagescape,
Diaolous testify to the final flowering of local building traditions in response to local banditry.

Kaiping Diaolous and Villages were added to the list of UNESCO heritage sites in July 2007.

[Please leave comments if you like these images]

Big Yields 收穫豐富	A Shy Kid 怕醜仔	Picking Lotus Caltrop 拾菱角	Cleaning up the Pond 清蓮塘	Cycling around Diaolous 踏三輪
Liyuan Garden 立園	Ruishi Lou 瑞石樓	From Ruishi Lou 下望錦江里 I	Bird Eye View 下望錦江里 II	For Peace 和平
Opening 窗外 I	Fusion Style 中西合璧 I	Roofs 瓦頂	Fusion Style 中西合璧 II	Opening 窗外 II
Alleys 大巷	Card Players 玩牌	Alleys 小巷	House Number 門牌	Passer-by 路過
From the Field 田野看碉樓	Greetings 吉祥	With Watchdog 忠犬看碉樓	"Gold House" 金屋	Village of Majianglong 馬降龍
Horse's Residence 駿廬	Cheong's Residence 昌廬	Lam's Residence 林廬	Sik's Residence 適廬	From Banana Tree 蕉樹下看碉樓
Engraved Frame 窗框	Window Shields 鋼窗	Roof Structure 塔樓	Veranda 陽臺	Feng Shui 風水
Dry Produces 乾物	Washes 洗滌	Ripen Starfruit 成熟	Fresh Produces 新鮮	"Happy" Baskets 喜上筲箕
Relics of Republic 民國見證 I	In a Distance 遠眺	In a Distance 遠眺	Relics of Republic 民國見證 II	Get Closer 近觀
Flying Kite 放鳶	Sisters 姐妹	Handstand 倒立 I	A Walk 漫步	Handstand 倒立 II
Twinkle 一點紅	Lovers 碉樓下的新人 I	Lovers 碉樓下的新人 II	Lovers 碉樓下的新人 III	Parasite 攀附
Chairs 椅子	Ancestors 神檯	Chekan Town 長街	Setting Light 夕照	Street Light 街燈
Onlooking 旁觀	Front and Back 碉樓看碉樓	Tropical Expression 熱帶風情	Back and Front 碉樓看碉樓	Pipe Smoker 抽水煙
Sunset 落日	Old Mansion 大宅	Fang's Night-watch Tower 方氏燈樓	Old Mansion 大宅	Reflection 水映
Direction 引路	Lovers 碉樓下的戀人 I	With Chicken 走地看碉樓	Further Direction 再引路	Lovers 碉樓下的戀人 II
Magic Color 魔幻 I	In Rice Fields 稻田與碉樓	Magic Color 魔幻 II	Hidden in Trees 樹掩碉樓	Magic Color 魔幻 III
With Morning Glory 牽牛與碉樓	Going Home 回家 I	A Cluster 自力村碉樓群	With Morning Glory 牽牛與碉樓	Going Home 回家 II

comment |

Joan Dick		05-Jul-2014 05:26
Thank you for this gallery. My father immigrated to Canada as a 15 year old in 1920 from a village not far from Kaiping. I have visited the village (from Canada) 4 times. The village is located at the "back gate" of Liyuan Gardens. Your photo gallery brought back many memories of my visits to this area. Joan Dick, Victoria, BC Canada

Jeff Real		03-Nov-2009 15:49
Fantastic collection with a great amount of variety ~V~

Leland Wong		27-Feb-2008 12:48
beautifully photographed! very interesting...my ancestral village area, Taishan, do not have this many diaolou's. I wonder why is that? I understand these were built mostly around the time of the Punti Hakka wars.

David Yu		26-Feb-2008 23:15
Very nice gallery of Kaiping Diaolou. It brings me back some very good memory when I was in China, KaiPing. I will go back to my home village some day. :)

yingchai		28-Nov-2007 12:55
sorry~ §Ñ¤F¯d¤U¬ÛÃ¯ºô§} : www.fotop.net/yingchai; ÁÂ

yingchai		28-Nov-2007 12:53
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flora		02-Nov-2007 06:49
Really good shot, and i always think that kaiping is a good place for the visitor and the person who love to take photos!~~~~

柴妹		13-Oct-2007 05:02
Ray Fascinating, always.

Richard Chu		10-Oct-2007 22:38
Excellent gallery. It will be on my places to visit list the next time I go to Hong Kong / China.

Ray		07-Oct-2007 05:24
Thanks Alvin... maybe we should organise our own trip next time to capture the best of Kaiping... keep in touch!!

Guest		06-Oct-2007 18:31
really nice gallery

Alvin		06-Oct-2007 07:54
Hi Ray, Your angles are much more varieties than mine. I like ¸ô¹L, Ë¥ß as well as all your captions, etc. However, our shooting location for this trip is not very good as I think most of them cannot capture the whole diaolous from a far view. And that will well present the nature of diaolous. Alvin

Francis		03-Oct-2007 15:07
Good Shot and recall my memories

Guest		03-Oct-2007 10:28
beautiful gallery. Congratulations. Jose Gorchs www.pbase.com/gemmayjose

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