江门市

Why this place

Jiangmen is the home of a large part of the Chinese diaspora — most Chinese communities in the Americas trace their roots to this prefecture. The towers they built when they sent money home, the diaolou, are a UNESCO site: fortified multi-storey houses in a hybrid Chinese-Western style, scattered through the rice fields.

What to see

• Kaiping's diaolou and villages — UNESCO-listed, with towers combining concrete, classical columns and Chinese roofs
• The Taishan and Xinhui old towns with their arcaded streets
• The waterfront and old trading quarter of Jiangmen itself

What to eat

• Cantonese cooking at its most straightforward, with excellent seafood
• The local 'e' — a chewy rice-flour noodle unique to this area

How to plan

One full day for the Kaiping diaolou, driving between villages.

Best time

October–December and March–April