A breathtaking view: A breathtaking view of Li Garden.

A trip to cities in Guangdong, a region known as the Pearl River Delta, is a good reminder of Chinese diaspora.

Upon my arrival, I was confronted by an amusing scene that I have never before witnessed in an immigration check area: A man whizzed past the seemingly endless lines of people leaving the Macao side of the border to get immigration clearance into China at an adjacent building in Zhuhai. Among the people rubbing shoulders in one of the queues was a woman pushing a cart of scrap air-conditioners.

It was then that I knew I had already set foot in mainland China together with easygoing Chinese natives, many of whom had just arrived back from work in the more affluent Macao. The bus station was busy and boisterous, reminding me of a few in Jakarta or other major cities. Bus crews shouted and horns were honked, disturbing the morning calm.

A two-hour journey north to Sunde allowed us to enjoy a glance of small towns and rural life. Traffic was very light '€” at least by Indonesian standards '€” which must be an advantage for this tourist province as travelers can move from one area to another without the kind of gridlock experienced in major cities.

The first stop was Kaiping, a town two hours'€™ drive from the provincial capital of Guangzhou. We headed to Zili village to see a cluster of the iconic, fortified multistory towers known as Kaiping Diaolou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Shortly before we reached Zili, we stopped at Chikan for a brief sightseeing visit in the so-called '€œmovie town'€, due to its marketplace enclosed by rows of old, rundown buildings on the northern bank of the Tanjiang River that has become a popular backdrop among filmmakers.

Of particular interest was a family library managed by a few elderly staff '€” a situation that took my mind back to the 1970s, when books, magazines and journals were most people'€™s prime source of entertainment; when digital reading had not even been imagined.

A diaulou stands in the middle of paddy fields.
Other than the old mansions and the river, photographs of the numerous blockbusters filmed in Chikan were one of the few things visitors could enjoy.

A 15-minute bus ride out of Chikan brought us to the much-anticipated Zili village. From behind the ticketing booths, the majestic diaolou looked like shop houses, except for the fact that they were much taller.

The fortified diaolou were built between 1920 and 1930 by members of the Chinese diaspora living as far away as Canada, the US, Australia and Hong Kong. The ones we visited stood in the middle of paddy fields interspersed with lotus ponds and a backdrop of green hills; a seemingly perfect housing arrangement according to feng shui, the Chinese geomantic practice that advises spatial arrangements and orientation in relation to energy flow.

Each diaolou had a sturdy iron gate, with foreboding doors and windows that would-be intruders would need heavy equipment to breach. According to the local administration, there are around 1,800 diaolou still in existence across Kaiping.

We took a look inside the largest diaolou, belonging to the Mingshi Lou family. The interior was basically a museum filled with antique furniture and photographs of the building'€™s owner, his wives and offspring.

Zili was virtually empty with only an average of two people living in each house, but the village has started to become increasing popular with foreign tourists since it was earmarked as a World Heritage Site. Most of the residents have long since emigrated to the US, Canada, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Those who remained largely depended on tourism as well as farming to earn a living, so our guide said.

The magnificent buildings perfectly blend Chinese and Western architecture and artistic influences in their interior design. But it would be wrong to imagine that diaolou are a rare sight. Many modern houses in Kaiping have been built in accordance with this historic architectural style.

Bruce Lee welcoming statue.
Diaolou can also be found at the nearby Li Garden, which was built by a Chinese-American, Xie Wei Li, between 1926 and 1936. Located outside the World Heritage Site, the 11,000-square-meter garden is an amalgam of classical Chinese landscaping and Western architecture.

So, after enjoying the diaolou in Zili, you can visit Li Garden and listen to the patriotic story about the wealthy clan that built it; it is an inspirational tale that argues for the importance of honoring one'€™s ancestral land after becoming successful overseas.

If you are a kung fu buff, visiting Bruce Lee Paradise in Shangcun Village in the town of Junan allows you to follow in the the hero'€™s footsteps in this 37,000-square-meter theme park. The sights include a 13.8-meter-high bronze statue of the legend, who introduced the Chinese martial art to the world during his heyday in the 1970s.

Lee was born in San Fransisco but grew up in Hong Kong. He provoked interest in kung fu upon his return to the US and further popularized it through his slam-bang movies after his return to Hong Kong.

Bruce Lee Paradise is said to be situated in the village where Lee'€™s father was born. Although Lee rarely visited his ancestral homeland, he remains highly revered as a man who promoted Chinese culture overseas. The US$23 million park, which was opened to the public in 2008, was built in his honor and is a serene ecological park surrounded by lakes and lush greenery, and a host of various kinds of birds.

A visit to Guangdong would not be complete without paying a visit to the ancient Nanfeng kilns in the former, historic pottery town of Shiwan in Foshan.

Interior of a mansion used as movie set in Chikan.
Built during the Ming Dynasty, the wood fires inside the kilns are said to have lasted for 500 years, as artisans crafted fine ceramics through the centuries. The vast complex is often teeming on weekdays with lots of schoolchildren who, along with the tourists, are eager to watch the demonstrations to learn how ceramic was made. In one workshop, you can amuse your friends as you try to make a pot with the help of a professional.

Nanfeng is touted to have the best-preserved kilns in China and, possibly, the world. Just make sure you are not separated from your friends if you travel in a group, as the site covers a vast area with a myriad of narrow, complex alleys. Also, word has it that if you touch the towering banyan tree in Nanfeng, which has survived the extreme heat for hundreds of years, and make a wish, perhaps the gods will answer your prayer.

The kilns are set against the hill, winding their way down as if forming a slithering dragon. Today, the main kilns near the entrance gate are preserved as a museum where doting couples have their photographs taken before they marry.

Guangdong is a great place to visit if you are a lover of culture and beautiful scenery. The province is vast; so, if you have the time and, of course, the finances, you may well choose to indulge by seeing as much as you can of its subtropical beauty.

If you go...

'€¢ The easiest way to get to Guangdong from Jakarta is with Garuda International, which has daily flights (cleartrip.com/flight-booking/garuda-indonesia-guangzhou-jakarta-flights.html)

'€¢ If you are already in Hong Kong, the best way to travel to Guangdong is by MTR subway to Shenzhen (gohongkong.about.com/od/traveltochina/a/mtrtosubway.html)

'€¢ From Macao to Zhuhai, you can actually go by foot if you are already in the border area, as the two territories are linked by a bridge. You can also take a bus from downtown Macao.

'€¢ Indonesian nationals need a visa to visit mainland China. Visitors from Southeast Asia can obtain a 144-hour convenient visa arrangement on the condition that they join a tour organized by a registered Hong Kong travel agent. (discoverhongkong.com)

A 500-year-old kiln in Nanfeng.

A pottery artisan at work at Nanfeng.

A row of old buildings on the northern bank of Tanjiang river.