My home is my castle

Dyaolou – storey house-fortress, which is a lot in a Chinese County Kaiping in Guangdong province. Most of these towers were built in the 20‑ies of the last century, but the oldest date from the first half of the XVII century, when the ruling Ming dynasty was falling into decay, and in the province wielded numerous band of outlaws. This house is a fortress could withstand a sudden storm and a long siege, in which the inhabitants of relative safety. Over time bandits wealthy houses became less common, but fashion dyaolou left.

Special prosperity construction dyaolou reached in 20-30‑ies of the last century. They loved to build wealthy overseas and returned home the Chinese. These Fort house was built using very modern technology of concrete and bricks, and their architectural appearance quirky mix of traditional Chinese motifs, the Italian Renaissance and medieval European Gothic. At the time it was built more than 3,000 dyaolou. These at home and performed the role of the fortress, and the role of conventional homes.

Today in Kaiping there are more than 1800 dyaolou, and about five hundred of them are located in Tisane. Many of dyaolou Kipina included in the List of world heritage of UNESCO.

The highest building of the fortress Kipina was built in 1921 It is called Ruisi Dyaolou (Ruishi Diaolou), it has 10 floors and its architecture mixed Byzantine and Roman styles.

The County Kaiping, which is home to a huge number of Chinese immigrants living in different countries, traditionally belongs to the nationalities and Yue Han. Main occupations of the inhabitants Kipina always been agriculture and fishing, and from the middle of the XVI century, there began to develop trade.

In the early nineteenth century, when America suffered the gold rush, thousands of poor farmers Kipina abandoned their huts and went overseas to look for gold. Some of them are lucky and wealth of the Chinese Diaspora in America and other countries has grown rapidly.

Many of the immigrants, richer abroad, he returned to his native China. But at home, the rich immigrants inevitably attracted the attention of the bandits, who, as in the Middle ages, attacked the house, robbed and kidnapped people for ransom. Bachham had nothing to do, how to remember a long tradition and to build himself not European elegant mansion traditional house is a fortress.

In Kaiping almost 90% of all dyaolou was built between 1900 and 1931 of Some of the rich village was almost entirely composed of powerful fortresses.

Construction dyaolou stopped in depression that broke out in the 30‑ies of the last century, the wars and the transformation of China into the people's Republic of China.

Today, many of the towers dyaolou abandoned and empty. The lives of some of dyaolou continue to maintain the rich Chinese immigrants.