{"id":83182,"date":"2026-09-08T12:22:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T04:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=83182"},"modified":"2026-09-08T12:22:58","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T04:22:58","slug":"why-chinas-unesco-listed-kaiping-watchtowers-are-best-discovered-on-two-wheels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=83182","title":{"rendered":"Why China\u2019s Unesco-listed Kaiping watchtowers are best discovered on two wheels"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Imagine a classic Chinese landscape of bamboo forest, rice paddies and lotus-filled waterways, dotted with villages that seem untouched by time.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Now add to that scene hundreds of castle-like watchtowers, their turrets rising unexpectedly against the skyline.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">This is Kaiping in Guangdong province, just a couple of hours from Hong Kong by direct high-speed train from West Kowloon Station.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">It is one of mainland China\u2019s lesser-known Unesco World Heritage sites and home to more than 1,800 distinctive structures called <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">diaolou<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image-inline-container e1a5rv550 css-1llrc1m e1yqhwb40\" data-qa=\"Component-renderMap-StyledDiv\">\n<div class=\"image-inline caption e1fvabeq0 css-19sk4h4 ea9pn0s0\" data-qa=\"Component-Container\">\n<figure class=\"image-inline caption ea9pn0s1 css-mv7ovk e1gf69pb0\" data-qa=\"ArticleImage-ArticleImageContainer\">\n<div data-qa=\"ArticleImage-handleRenderImage-ImageContainer\" class=\"css-bjn8wh e1gf69pb3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Surrounded by ponds filled with lotus flowers, the diaolou in Zili are some of Kaiping\u2019s best-preserved. Photo: Jakki Phillips\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/09\/04\/646bdafb-c73f-4fd3-a0ef-16ba628f33e5_2a48f19f.jpg\" title=\"Surrounded by ponds filled with lotus flowers, the diaolou in Zili are some of Kaiping\u2019s best-preserved. Photo: Jakki Phillips\"\/><\/div><figcaption data-qa=\"ArticleImage-DescriptionContainer\" class=\"css-1bj5zno e1gf69pb1\">Surrounded by ponds filled with lotus flowers, the diaolou in Zili are some of Kaiping\u2019s best-preserved. Photo: Jakki Phillips<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Dating back to the Ming dynasty \u2013 though most were built in the 1920s and 30s \u2013 the <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">diaolou<\/em> were part fortress, part family home and part status symbol, protecting against bandits and flooding while projecting wealth and prestige.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">This brings five other cyclists and me to Kaiping for a weekend cycling trip organised by travel specialists Bike Aways.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/travel-leisure\/article\/3366303\/why-chinas-unesco-listed-kaiping-watchtowers-are-best-discovered-two-wheels?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Imagine a classic Chinese landscape of bamboo forest, rice paddies and lotus-filled waterways, dotted with villages that seem untouched by time. Now add to that&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":83183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[6292,506,29668,14935,29669,8620],"class_list":["post-83182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-chinas","tag-discovered","tag-kaiping","tag-unescolisted","tag-watchtowers","tag-wheels","wpcat-33-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/83183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}