Kaiping Diaolou and Villages is located in Kaiping County, Guangdong Province and was constructed by American and Canadian overseas from the early Qing Dynasty, reaching a peak in the 1920s and 1930s when there were more than three thousand of these structures. Today, approximately 1,800 Diaolou are still standing there. The main purpose for building Diao-lou (Building) at that time was housing and protecting against forays by bandits.

This site features the Diaolou, multi-storied defensive village houses, displaying a complex of Chinese and Western structural and decorative forms, reflecting Kaiping development of several countries in South Asia, Australia, and North America, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the close links between overseas Kaiping residents and their ancestral homes. These buildings take three forms: communal towers built by several families used as temporary refuge, of which 473 remain; residential towers built by individual rich families and used as fortified residences, of which 1,149 survive; and watch towers, the latest development, which account for 221 of the buildings.

With high historical value, the Kaiping Diaolou and Villages was listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 2007. For tourists who are interested in the ancient Chinese history and culture, it is a worth place to visit.