If you want to walk around the Guangzhou City with your camera, Kaiping Watchtower is a Must-Go place. Only one and a half hour driving distance from the heart of the city, you will find a totally exotic place. There are hundreds and thousands watchtowers erected peacefully in fields. Behind every single one, there was a story, similar stories with different details. Yes, 100 years ago, people were poor and they did farming for living. Wars and local robbery took their peace away; many people left their home and sailed long way to San Francisco to seek a better life. Although life wasn't pleasant there, either for them, they missed their home country so much. Therefore, even if they starved, even if they were discriminated in their work place, they contributed most of their money to build the watchtowers in their hometown in order to keep their kids and family safe.
Most of the watchtowers have 5-6 floors, there aren't patios or any other decorations from the bottom to the second top; in that way, no one can climb in the house; each floor has a small window so even though they can climb, the people inside can throw stones or gun shoot to force the enemies to step back. The top level has the most incredible western design. As people who pay for the construction settled down oversea, they got used to the western building and western lives. They demanded to build a castle-like watchtower. I am very proud of our ancestors, because the local builders had never been outside the country, they looked at the postcard mailed from oversea, and inspired to make such a piece of art.
Inside the watchtowers, you can feel the history, a Chinese history as well as a western one. As you might see, there are lots of commodities were carried to China from 9000 miles away. I have to say, here, you can taste history, taste the wisdom of our culture. It is a connection between China and other parts of the world.
