Kaiping classic tourist routes

First stop: Gigi Lai Village Diaolou Group (the tour time is about 60 minutes). Gigi Lai Village is a typical representative of Kaiping Diaolou Village, with beautiful natural environment, harmonious village layout and convenient roads. Tall, sturdy and experienced bunker, with steel windows, gun holes and other defensive functions in the building, is fully decorated with European and American styles such as Rome, Gothic and Baroque.

Second stop: Liyuan (the tour time is about 80 minutes) Liyuan was rated as AAAA national tourist attraction in 2002. It is a villa garden built by Xie Weili, an overseas Chinese studying in the United States, in ten years. The garden not only has the traditional gardens in China and the style of Lingnan water town, but also combines the western flavor of European and American villa buildings. After visiting the pear garden, Dr. Henry, Director-General of UNESCO, praised it as a shining example of Kaiping traditional culture and a perfect combination of Chinese and Western cultures. Third stop: Chikan Ancient Town, European Style Street, Film and Television City (the visit time is about 45 minutes). Chikan ancient town is a famous national historical and cultural town, and its 2-kilometer-long arcade is built by the river.

European style street is the most distinctive section of the ancient street. Chikan Film and Television City has a total area of 6,000 square meters. The overall landscape is designed and built according to the architectural style of overseas Chinese affairs in Xiguan, Guangzhou in the 1920s. Film and Television City not only shows the traditional architectural carving art in China incisively and vividly, but also incorporates the famous western relief art, and its appearance is ingeniously integrated with the European style street. Fourth stop: Majianglong Diaolou Group (the visit time is about 60 minutes).

Majianglong Diaolou Group is backed by the majestic Baizu Mountain and faces the Tanjiang River. Seven watchtowers and eight western-style villas are hidden in the dense bamboo forests of the village, blending with the surrounding houses and natural environment. They are the best products in the tower. Villages are scattered between green mountains and green waters, with fresh and pleasant air and beautiful ecological environment. In 2006, he won the gold medals in the 50 most worthwhile places for foreigners in China; In June of the same year, experts from the United Nations who assessed the world cultural heritage came here and lamented that this is the most beautiful village in the world. In June 2007, it was listed in the World Heritage List at the 3rd1session of the United Nations World Heritage Committee.

Fifth stop: Chishui Xiangjiang Hot Spring Resort is located in Chishui Town, Kaiping City, surrounded by mountains and lush trees. There are more than 60 multifunctional hot spring baths in the resort, and hot spring water is a rare warm metasilicate mineral spring. According to the detection by the Department of Geology and Mineral Resources, the hot spring contains many trace elements necessary for human body. Whether it is hot summer or cold season, it can bring you joy and relaxation. Xiangjiang Hot Spring makes every guest feel meticulous humanistic care and real enjoyment. It is an ideal place for travel, vacation, business negotiation and entertainment.

Kaiping Diaolou 2-Day Self-Parade

Transportation: 1. Kaiping is near Guangzhou. The earliest bus from Fangcun Kengkou Bus Station to Kaiping is 7: 20, which runs every 20 minutes, and the whole journey takes 1.5 hours. Ticket price, 43 yuan. In addition, there are shuttle buses to Zhongshan No.8 Bus Station, Tianhe Bus Station, Jiaokou Bus Station and Provincial Bus Station. 2. The watchtowers in Kaiping are dotted. Almost every town and village has more than one or two watchtowers, but there are differences in style and old and new. So, if you have money, a car, time and a strong interest in watchtowers, you'd better drive there, get to know the famous ones first, and then explore some beautiful watchtowers yourself. Its sense of accomplishment is indescribable.

If you have no money, no car and no time, but have a strong interest in the watchtower, you can go to the watchtower by bus and motorcycle like me, and you can also have a good time! Route: Go to Kaiping on August 6th for 2 days. The route from south to north is: Niangang-Lily-Wulong-Chikan-Tangkou-Yici Temple. It is suggested to focus on Niangang, Baihe, Tangkou and Chikan, where the famous watchtower is located. Although seeing Kaiping Diaolou is a journey of discovery, we should look at the famous ones first, and then look for them ourselves, lest we can't find a good one and have no time to look at it, and get wax gourd or sesame seeds. Accommodation: It is best to live in Chikan Town. Although there are not many hotels, the accommodation environment is still good: 5060 yuan/standard room with separate bathroom and air conditioning.

Classification: Diaolou can be divided into three categories: one is watchtower or lantern tower. This kind of building is usually built at the head or end of the village, and some are built on the mountain. Once bandits and thieves are found, they will call the police immediately to prepare the villagers. The second is public buildings. This watchtower was built by a dozen or several families. It has three to six floors, and each floor has two to four rooms. If there are bandits and thieves, every family can live in public buildings to avoid bandits. A three-bedroom building built by overseas Chinese is used for long-term residence. On the morning of August 6th, the first day, I took a bus to Kaiping at Fangcun Bus Terminal at 09: 50, 45 yuan/person, and it took about 1 hour to get to Kaiping in 30 minutes. Take bus 13 at the first stop to Jinji. I want to get off at Niangang Town.

When the driver saw me carrying a backpack, he asked me if I went to the watchtower, and then introduced that the most beautiful watchtower in Niangang Town was Jinjiang Tower Group. On the way outside Jinjiang Village, he let me off and pointed to Jinjiang Village and said that it was just over there. I have read other people's travel notes before, and find it difficult to find the watchtower without a motorcycle. Maybe it's because Kaiping Diaolou wants to declare a world cultural heritage. It can be seen that the Kaiping municipal government has done a lot of work along the way. As soon as I got off the bus, I saw a big stone tablet with Jinjiang Tower Group written on it and a sign indicating the direction. Walk ten meters in the indicated direction and climb a small slope, and you will see the Swiss building. It is the first floor of Kaiping, and you can see the majestic posture of Ruishilou standing tall against the bamboo forest from a distance.

There is a long river bank along the slope. Go straight along the river bank, and there is a sign at the fork in the road, prompting you to go right. Follow these signs, and you can easily reach Jinjiang Lane. Xiangang Town: Jinjiang Li Diaolou Group Jinjiang Li belongs to Xiangang Town, Kaiping City, 22km northeast of Kaiping City. During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1875- 1908), the village was built by the Huang family as planned.

At the beginning of the construction of the village, Huang Yigui, who had high prestige in Huangjia, drew the first boundary line of the village, stipulating that the vertical lane was 1.5 meters wide and a horizontal lane was built every three rows. The width of the first horizontal lane is 1.5m, which is 60cm away from the second horizontal lane. The homestead with unified area is subscribed by the clansmen, and the house is required to be 6 meters high. There are three towers behind the village: Swiss Tower, Shengfeng Tower and Jinjiang Tower. Ruilou, located 4 kilometers west of Xiangang Town, was built at 1923. It is a nine-story reinforced concrete building. Recently, the columns, threaded legs, window sills, window skirts, mountain flower shapes and decorative patterns on all floors are very good.

Baihe Town: Go back to the roadside along the route and take bus 13 to Baihe. As soon as you get off the bus, you can see the roadside signs of Majianglong Diaolou Group. Follow the signs and it's not far after crossing a highway bridge. From the information collected on the Internet, Ma's bunker is very famous, but for some reasons, Ma's villagers seem to be not very friendly to outsiders who visit the bunker. I walked into the village with uneasy feelings, but all kinds of unhappiness of netizens did not happen along the way. Maybe the problem in the rumor has been solved! Many houses and towers in the village are under repair, which should be for the inspection of the United Nations in September.

The Matiaolou Formation is located in the southeast of Baihe Market, Baihe Town, Kaiping City, and in the northeast of Kaiping City 15km. It consists of five natural villages: Yong 'anli, Nan 'anli, Hedong Li and Longjiang Li. It was built by the Huang Heguan family in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. Villagers 17 1 person, 80% are overseas Chinese. Overseas Chinese are more than domestic population, mainly distributed in the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries. Horse jumping off a building has played an active role in protecting the lives and property of local villagers. According to records, there were three major floods in Kaiping: 1963, 1965 and 1968. The flood flooded the residents' roofs and the villagers took refuge in bunkers. There are 13 pagodas in Majianglong Village, among which Tianlu Pagoda is the most representative.

Tianlou, located in Yong 'anli, 1925 was jointly built by 29 villagers. This is a typical seven-story reinforced concrete multi-story building. When I arrived at Tianlu downstairs, because it was noon, all the people who built the watchtower went to eat, so I climbed up and explored it when no one was around. There are 29 rooms from the first floor to the fifth floor, one room for each fundraiser, and the name of the fundraiser is hung at the door of each room. It is said that at that time, every evening, the men of fund-raisers stayed in the building to prevent bandits from kidnapping; The 6th floor is the venue for public activities, and the 7th floor is the exhibition hall. _ The watchtower should be the highest place in Majianglong Village. Standing on it, the whole village can be seen at a glance. Majianglong Village is backed by the majestic Baizu Mountain and faces the mirror-clear Tanjiang River.

Five natural villages are scattered among green mountains and green waters. From a distance, you can understand why there are so many towers in Kaiping. The terrain here is open and flat, flooded, and there is nowhere to escape; Bandits rob and keep a close watch. As a result, diaolou (high-rise building with thick walls and narrow windows and iron gates with shooting ranges at four corners, commonly known as Bird's Nest), a building form with multiple functions of residence, flood control and bandit prevention, came into being. At the peak, there were more than 3,000 towers, and now there are more than 800 towers in/kloc-0. Leave Tianlu Building and walk on the village road paved with granite stones. Surrounded by green bamboo forests, trees and flowers, the environment is very beautiful. Along the way, we also saw towers such as lujun, Luchang, Chulu (Li Qinglin) and Xinlu (Longjiang Li).

These towers are unique in shape and well preserved, hidden in the dense bamboo forests in the village, and integrated with the surrounding houses and natural environment. I think the natural environment here is the most beautiful in the whole trip, especially the feeling of overlooking the tower is really cool! Suggest going. Returning to the roadside by the original road, you can see a khaki watchtower at a glance, that is, the stone road. Shiluno Baihe Middle School, located in Bian Xia Village, Baihe Town, was built in the 1920s. It is the first farmers' association in Kaiping, the Bian Xia Farmers' Association, and the activity base of the local party organization of China * * * Production Party. Shiban Road is the most typical existing three-story concrete watchtower, with five floors and khaki walls.

The lower three floors are standard floors, and there are two pavilions above. The fourth floor is the colonnade style of the ancient Greek temple, with a nest protruding outward at the four corners, and the top floor is the European castle style. Sanhetuo Diaolou is made of red mud, lime, sugar or glutinous rice. Mix and tamp layer by layer. This wall is generally more than a foot thick, as strong as reinforced concrete, and it is cooler inside than a house made of cement. Dragon five takes bus 13 from Lily to Yici Temple.

Through the narrow alley, you can vaguely see the three ancient black characters of Ying Long Building. The Dragon Building has three floors, and the lower two floors were built with red mud bricks during Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1522- 1566). The data shows that the wall thickness is 93cm! The third floor is made of 1920 household blue bricks. There is a floor-standing square tower with shooting holes in every corner of the British building. The roof of the building is a traditional hard top style with simple style and concise shape. As the Lou couplets say, the dragon welcomes guests and the building is magnificent. Ying Long Ta is basically unaffected by external factors and is the most primitive model of Kaiping Diaolou.

Coming out of the third door, I saw several beautiful houses across the street, so I went over. There are three villa areas: Lingwei Village, Luxiang, Huilu and Shao Zhen Road. There are fences outside the three villas, and the yard is overgrown with weeds. It is estimated that the landlord has gone abroad with his family.

Under the enthusiastic guidance of an old man in Lingwei Village, Canada, I walked from Sanmenli to Lingyuan Township across the road, walked along the road, and stepped on a potholed ridge (planted rice), which was the Canadian village. People from all over Canada went to Canada, leaving behind 10 ancient cottages and a watchtower, most of which were built in the 1920s and 1930s.

Canada Village, formerly known as Shrimp Village, belongs to Lingyuan Township, Chikan Town. Now there is only one old man named Guan who looks after the house. The most romantic house in Canada is the Spring House next to the Four big noble Towers. The courtyard in front of the building is dilapidated, the grass is rotten, and the sun is setting. It's bleak, but it can't hide the elegance and nobility of Chunru. In fact, all villages in Canada are connected by cement roads, but it takes a long walk to get to the roadside. It's already six o'clock in the afternoon when you take the No.4 bus to Chikan Town. Go east along Zhonghua Road. Near the Second People's Hospital of Kaiping City, I found the tourism industry in Du Peng mentioned by netizens, which is said to be the best hotel in Chikan. Large room 60 yuan/night, small room 50 yuan.

I live in a small room with complete facilities and good hygiene. In the evening, walking along the river bank, many shops have just opened. Under the ancient arcade porch, it seems that I have returned to Guangzhou, which I was familiar with as a child, and I have a very cordial feeling. Dinner was eaten at a food stall on Xidi Road. Stir-fried beef is good and tastes good, but I feel that the food I ordered is not clean and has sand.

The next day Chikan Town:

Chikan Town has a history of more than 350 years. It was named after the red soil highland built on the north bank of Tanjiang River. It is an ancient town of overseas Chinese with strong southern characteristics and profound cultural heritage. Chikan is built along the Tanjiang River, with villages on the south bank and cities on the north bank. There are two main roads in the urban area: Dongdi West Road along the Yangtze River, parallel to Zhonghua Road. Most of the ancient houses on West Road (arcade street) were built by overseas Chinese and business owners in the 1920s. Generally 2-3 stories high, the building is a combination of traditional architecture in China and western architecture, that is, on the basis of the traditional golden tile roof and blue brick structure, the advanced concrete building materials in the west at that time were integrated.

The neat arcades with different styles stand side by side with rivers, ships, stone bridges, ancient banyan trees and pedestrians, all of which are wonderful elements of classic nostalgic photos. Sandwiched between two main roads (parallel to Xidi Road), there is an unknown Ermayina Road, where cars are prohibited. The road is paved with cobblestones and both sides are European-style buildings. Looking around these antique houses, it seems that you have inadvertently stepped into a European town. There are two bridges on the Tanjiang River, the upper step and the lower step. The next bridge is the dividing line between the east and the west of the levee. They're all called Stuart, and they're all called Guan. Situ family and Guan family are two big families in Kaiping area, and they are full of talents. It is not difficult to imagine that there should be dragons entering here.

Although overseas Chinese became rich by doing business abroad, they knew from an early age that everything was inferior, only the profound influence of high reading level, so they attached great importance to education and rushed to donate to build libraries. The two libraries are Situ Library built in 1925 and Guanzu Library built in 193 1 respectively. One stands on the east side of the levee and the other on the west side of the levee. The two are far apart, and even the architectural styles are similar. (Library opening hours are11:00-15: 00). Tangkou Town: I rented a motorcycle (6 yuan) in Chikan to go to the bunker in Gigi Lai Village. The driver stopped at the toll booth at the entrance to the village. It was around 08: 30, and the toll booth was empty, so I was free to buy tickets.

The road leading to Gigi Lai Village is a brand-new cement road, built by several villages near Gigi Lai Village, connecting Gigi Lai Village and nearby villages. You can see the tower along the road! Gigi Lai Diaolou Group belongs to Tangkou Town, Kaiping City, located at12km east of Kaiping City. It consists of three natural villages: Anheli (commonly known as Ploughou), Anli (commonly known as Xincun) and Li Yongan (commonly known as Huangniling). In the seventeenth year of Qing Daoguang (1837), Neitouzui was the first village. The living pattern of villagers is in harmony with the surrounding natural environment, and the village layout is sporadic. Gigi Lai Village has 9 floors (watchtower) and 6 villas (villas). The earliest Longsheng Mansion was built in 19 17, and the latest Zhan Lu Mansion was built in 1948. It is the village with the largest number of diaolou in Kaiping.

Towers with different styles and densities stand on the green fields, and the towers are mottled. The villagers planted lotus flowers and rice in the watchtower, and the lotus leaves in the field set off the exquisite structure and harmonious layout of the foreign building, as if enjoying the European customs in the pastoral picture of China. The most exquisite building in the village is Shiming Building. Landlord Ren Guang started as a grocery store in the United States and became the richest man in the area. He spent 60,000 silver dollars to build this magnificent mansion in his hometown. There are four floors under the five-story Shi Ming Building, and the fifth floor is very spectacular. In front of it is a spacious colonnade with eight columns in Orlick style, surrounded by deformed Roman railings, baroque mountain flowers in the middle of the front and a small pavilion with a Chinese glazed tile roof at the top.

In contrast, I prefer Huan Yun Building. Fang Wenxian, the landlord, was a private school teacher in his early years, and then went to Hong Kong and Malaysia to make a living and become rich in business. Although the Magic Cloud Building is not as luxurious as the Shiming Building, it is small and chic, and a large cluster of purple azaleas beside the courtyard gate is particularly gratifying. The Cloud Fantasy Tower is five stories high, and the first four floors are residential buildings.

This building is five stories high and has a reinforced concrete structure. Below the third floor is the room and board for the personnel on duty. There is a colonnade-style observation deck on the fourth floor. On the fifth floor, there is a pavilion with a western dome roof. This building is equipped with early western generators, searchlights and firearms. On duty, this is a typical building. Historically, when Fang boarded the building on the other side, people played an active early warning and defense role in preventing bandits in the northern Magang area.

I waited for a long time at the intersection of Gigi Lai Village before I got on the bus back to Yici Temple (5 yuan) and set foot on my way home. In September this year, UNESCO World Heritage Committee will send Laurence Loh, a Malaysian expert, to conduct an on-the-spot investigation and evaluation of Kaiping Diaolou and village heritage application projects. The application results will be announced at the meeting of the 3 1 World Heritage Committee in June next year. I sincerely hope that Kaiping Diaolou and the village heritage application project will become the first batch of world cultural heritage in Guangdong Province as soon as possible.

Note: 1. Whether it's a self-help tour or go on road trip, when you first arrive in Kaiping, you must buy a tourist map of Zhang Kaiping. Although the map does not indicate the exact location of all the towers, you can at least get a general idea of the geographical location of each town and village, which is helpful for arranging tours and predicting time.

It is recommended to bring your own dry food and drinks for lunch, because it is sometimes not easy to find a suitable place to eat on the road or in the village.

I think it's best to visit Ruishilou, Malongjiang Village, Gigi Lai Village and Chikan Town. Others can search for themselves when they have time. The bus is very convenient, but most of the watchtowers are not on the roadside, so it takes a long time to walk.

Guangdong Kaiping self-help tour guide

Kaiping is bounded by Heshan Juncus in the north, Enping Swallow in the west, Xinhui in the southeast and Taishan in the southwest. After the Opium War, thousands of Kaiping people crossed the ocean to work in North America, and Wuyi became a famous hometown of overseas Chinese. Overseas Chinese earn money to go home, buy land, build houses, get married and have children. But the situation is getting worse and worse, and bandits are rampant, so the rich man built three or four floors with iron branches, stones and Shi Min soil (cement) to protect himself; People who are difficult to invest gather several houses to form the first floor. Let the European anti-bandits flood control castle be revived on the land of South Guangdong. From 192 1 to 1926, 608 towers were built in Kaiping.

Almost every village in Kaiping has a watchtower with different shapes, some in the middle and some in the west. More than 1800 watchtowers distributed on both sides of National Highway 325 are an idyllic symphony of Chinese and western musical instruments. Walking in Kaiping's buildings, you can listen, see and feel the notes scattered in the countryside.

Kaiping Diaolou has always been the focus of photographers. It's best to go in golden rice fields and sunny weather in 65438+ 10. You can take very beautiful photos in the morning and afternoon. kaiping diaolou

Recommended route: Focus on Tangkou, Chikan and Xiangang. You can consider walking: Ying Long Building-Canada Village-Liyuan-Fangs Lantern Building-Gigi Lai Village Diaolou, or Ying Long Building-Canada Village-Chikan Ancient Town-Majianglong Diaolou-Shilu-Yanping Building-Jinjiang Ruishi Building.

Going to Kaiping to see the watchtower should be a journey of discovery. There are still a large number of watchtowers in the local area that have not yet been discovered. Don't insist on looking at which watchtower. If you see the watchtower along the way, stop and have a look.

Practical information:

Transportation: There are many buses going to Kaiping every day in various cities in Guangdong, passing famous towers and houses, and there are frequent shuttle buses in scenic spots.

Accommodation: all counties and towns have perfect accommodation services, and the price is not much different from that of Guangdong. You can live in a local farmhouse.