Castle in the sky - Ruishi Diaolou

This reminds me more like buildings I've seen in India's in Jaipur or Jodhpur, India. Alas no, it's in the Pearl River Delta, southern China. Homes like these were built by overseas Chinese returning home between 1910s and the early 1930s. They weren't
always built for show but also defence against what was a rather lawless part of China at the time. The have taken on the name diaolou which translates as watchtower, however, only some diaolou are watchtowers and these were often built on the edges of villages to give advance warning of any trouble that may be on its way to attack.

The Ruishilou, which is the highest diaolou in Kaiping, situated in the village of Jinjiangli near the township of Xiangang, was built by Huang Bixiu, a rich merchant who, together with his two sons, owned a medicine shop and a bank (qianzhuang ) in Hong Kong.

He wished to provide protection for his parents and wife in the village, and spent HK$30,000 on building it, in a process which took three years, from 1921 to 1923. The plans were drawn up by one of his nephews. The calligraphy proclaiming its name on the sixth storey was a present from the abbot of the Six Banyans Temple in Guangzhou, who was a celebrated calligrapher and friend of Huang Bixiu. Diaolou which were built by individuals, usually bore the first name or honorific title (hao ) of the owner. For example, Huang Bixiu’s hap was Ruishi . The completion of the Ruishilou coincided with the 80th anniversaries of Huang’s mother and father, so he celebrated this auspicious event with a five-day banquet. The entire neighbourhood was invited and even people just passing through were invited to take part. These festivities cost him about HK$10,000.