The Yinlong Lou

The Yinlong Lou was built by Guan Shengtu(1510-1586) and his wife in the reign of Jiajing (1522-1566)during the Ming Dynasty. Guan Shengtu lived from 1510 to 1586. The tower was built as a communal place of refuge for the village as a whole. It comprises three storeys, and is built of brick and timber. The first and second storeys are built of big local Ming Dynasty bricks. These bricks are noticeable larger than bricks dating from later periods. The third storey was added during the conservation of 1920 and is made of blue bricks. The roof is tiled, and is constructed to a traditional gabled degign. The 440-year-old Yinglong Lou, the oldest surviving Diaolou in Kaiping, shows us what the earliest Kaiping Diaolou looked like. In June 2001, the Yinglong Lou was declared by the State Council a protected Major National Cultural Heritage.