【4K】The World Cultural Heritage: Kaiping Diaolou, Zili Village

Kaiping is a famous hometown of overseas Chinese, architecture, art and Diaolou, with a total population of 680,000. There are 750,000 overseas Chinese and compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan living abroad in 67 countries and regions. In the early 19th century, in order to prevent floods and bandits and protect the safety of overseas Chinese and their families, overseas Chinese built Diaolou for both living and guarding. There are 1,833 Diaolou in existence. These Diaolou and the surrounding villages, rice fields, small bridges, flowing water, blue sky and white clouds complement each other, forming a unique and beautiful landscape. In June 2007, "Kaiping Diaolou and Villages" was listed in the World Heritage List by UNESCO. The Diaolou Group of Zili Village is located in Tangkou Town, Kaiping City, and is one of the world cultural heritage sites. The village has a beautiful natural environment, with ponds, lotus ponds, rice fields and grasslands scattered among them, which are in harmony with the numerous watchtowers and houses, forming a poetic farming ink painting of spring smoke and pastoral scenery, and a Western-style castle village with a unique Lingnan rural atmosphere. Zili Village has 15 watchtowers with different styles, exquisite shapes and rich connotations, which are outstanding representatives of the heyday of Kaiping watchtowers. Most of the watchtowers in Zili Village were built in the 1920s and 1930s. They were built by local overseas Chinese to protect the lives and property of their relatives in their hometown. The watchtowers in Zili Village cleverly combine traditional Chinese rural architectural culture with Western architectural culture, which rarely reflects the extensive exchange of modern Chinese and Western cultures in Chinese villages, and has become a monument to Chinese overseas Chinese culture and a unique world architectural art landscape. The building preserves complete furniture, living facilities, production tools and daily necessities, which are rich and interesting, and are witnesses to the culture and life of overseas Chinese at that time. In the 1920s, due to rampant bandits and frequent floods, overseas Chinese built 15 watchtowers that could be used for living and defense. These watchtowers all had iron doors and windows, were full of loopholes, equipped with guns, gongs, searchlights, and stored a large amount of food. Once bandits invaded, the villagers would hide in the building to fight against them, leaving the bandits sighing and returning empty-handed. The wall structure is made of reinforced concrete or concrete wrapped in blue bricks. Except for blue bricks, which are produced locally, iron rods, iron plates, cement, etc. are all imported from foreign countries. The upper structure of the watchtower has four-sided cantilevers, four-corner cantilevers, front cantilevers, and back cantilevers. In terms of architectural style, many have foreign architectural features, including colonnade style, platform style, castle style, and mixed style. These watchtowers. Some were built according to the drawings brought back from foreign countries by the builders. The Zili Village watchtower group was announced as a national key cultural relic protection unit by the Chinese government in June 2001. Chapters: 00:00 Opening 01:10 Strolling through the ancient village 02:20 Mingshi Tower 08:39 Strolling through the ancient village 09:41 Villagers’ living area 12:14 Strolling through the ancient village 12:42 Anlu 16:50 Runshengjulu 21:03 Yeshengjulu #Village #WorldHeritage #China