With an earliest history dating back to late Ming and early Qing, the Kaiping Diaolou entered an unprecedented flourishing period in 20s-30s of 20th century along with a great number of overseas Chinese’s coming back to buy real estate.

The Diaolous numbered more than 3,000 in their heyday, with still 1,833 of them preserved perfectly up to now. In June 2007 the 31st Session of World Heritage Conference adopted the inclusion of the “Kaiping Diaolou and Villages” of China in the World Cultural Heritage List.