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Kaiping Diaolou, Beyond Space

Perhaps the most elegant is the 6-story Mingshi Lou-- taller than others, on the right toward the rear of Tangkou Town's Zili Village. It contains luxurious late-Qing furnishings and a top-floor ancestral shrine, which affords superb views across the countryside.

On the wall of the hall in the first floor, there hangs a large photo of 1.2 meter. It shows Fang Runwen and his three wives, who he got married in his hometown, Hong Kong, and America. In the photo, the first wife is dressed in traditional costume while the other two are dressed youthfully and fashionably. That was the typical family structure at that time.

The furnishing on the forth floor is simple and exotic. The imported gramophone once played the old songs of Guangdong. On the dresser, the French perfume and Pond's Cream still let out a faint fragrance.

ˇˇWuzi Lou or Watchtower of anonymity

Year of construction: 1924

Type: Julou

Owner: Fang Fuxin

In most cases, each Diaolou of Kaiping has its own horizontal board inscribed in the upper middle of the main building. However, there is an anonymous Diaolou in Xihe Village, Baihe Town.

Fang Fuxin went to America in his teens, and his father Fang Xiuwen got a wife for him. The woman, who had never seen her husband, followed the local tradition and had a wedding ceremony in the absence of Fang Fuxin.

In 1924, Fang Fuxin sent money back home to build a Diaolou. When it was finished, his father gave it his own name, hence Xiuwen Lou. The daughter-in-law was enraged and claimed that her husband was naturally entitled to name it. She had the inscription removed. The father was furious but could do nothing. The blockhouse thereafter was without a name.
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