Bike Aways

Kaiping Diaolou Guangdong, Southern China

Who would have thought Guangdong so charming? You do have to travel through low rise factory towns with names like Sanitary Wares City to get to Kaiping – but then the sweet waters of the Tan River reveal fields of kryptonite-green paddy surrounded by clumping bamboo, carved up by small farmers pathways that have semi adhocly been integrated into the Guangdong Cycling Greenway.

Rich in both rice and  and humans, the land was a mecca for bandits, warmongers and kidnappers. Kaipingers built watchtowers called Diaolou from which they could shoot arrows through slit windows and pour boiling oil from ornate balconies – which were also great for enjoying a gin and tonic whilst thinking up names for surrounding mountains such as “horse toppling from the dragon”.

Kaiping was the centre of early Chinese overseas emigration, followed decades later by cash loaded success stories returning from the various gold rushes with a love of baroque which they used to  decorate their fortress homes.

A rare taste of Old Guangdong, Kaiping is the perfect cycling destination – easily accessed from Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Macau.