Asset Building

Dazzling tales of newfound wealth aren't new to China. In fact, in the southern coastal province of Guangdong, the nouveaux riches are old news. Villages around the town of Kaiping are still filled with their architectural legacy, dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries when large numbers of Guangdong peasants joined the great migration of Chinese workers abroad. Many went to North America or Australia as laborers. Others established small businesses and came back relatively prosperous. To display their new wealthand protect it from floods and roving bandits common at the timethey built spectacular blockhouses known as diaolou. At...