【正文】 s pleted.9 The watchtowerlike building in Kaiping is a structure incorporating the Chinese and Western architectural styles and bining the functions of a residence for the family and a watchtower to guard against bandits. The total number of buildings reached 3,300 in its peak time. Nowadays the number of registered houses is 1,833. They are listed by the Chinese State Council as one of the cultural relics protected by the state.10 The mon feature of the watchtowers is that all of them have narrow iron doors, small iron windows and solid walls with embrasures, from which we can see that these watchtowers were mainly used to guard against bandits.11 The highest and most luxury watchtower in Kaiping is the Ruishilou. The ninestorey tower is 25 meters high and is built of armored concrete. Its indoor elegant furnishings are arranged in a traditional Chinese style. So, this tower is rated as No. 1 tower in Kaiping.12The Liyuan Garden is located in Beiyi Village, Tangkou town. Constructed in 1936, it was a villa garden incorporating the Chinese and Western styles. The two Chinese Characters “Li Yuan” up on the tall arched gate are its name.13 The Liyuan Garden is divided into three areas: villa area, big garden area and small garden area. Its main structures include the arched gate with the two Chinese characters “Li Yuan”, a decorated archway with the four Chinese characters “Xiu Shen Li Ben”(meaning roughly “Cultivating Oneself to Bee a Moral Person”), four pavilions on the bridges and two ancient romanstyle structure(“Bird’s Nest” and “Vine Pavilion”).14 The Ancestral Temple is an ancient structure in Foshan City. It was first built during the Northern Song Dynasty (10781085). It’s original structure was destroyed by fire during the Yuan Dynasty (12061368) and was rebuilt in 1372 during the Ming Dynasty.15 The Ancestral Temple was formerly called “Ancestral Hall” and was a shrine for the workers of the metalcasting industry to worship their ancestral masters. It was turned into a Daoist temple during the Ming Dynasty, because the Ming emperor believed in Daoism. Now it houses the Foshan City Museum.16 The Ancestral Temple is built in the style of the Chinese traditional architecture. Its building plex is pactly laid out with the halls interspaced by courtyards and connected with corridors. Its roofs are constructed in the traditional “Xieshan” style. The roof structure is supported by a wooden system of brackets. These wooden brackets are connected by mortise and tenon joints and not a single nail is used for connection.17 The Ancestral Temple is unique in the way it is decorated, the way that is characteristic of Guangdong Province. Pottery sculptures, lime sculptures, brick carvings, wood carvings and other works of art can be found on the ridges, the eaves, the walls or elsewhere. These works of art are not only used for the purpose of decoration but are also depictions of various scenes from Chinese folk stories and legends. They are delicately made to be lifelike and are all master pieces of ancient Chinese folk art, so the temple is known as The Palace of Oriental Folk Art.18 This bronze bell was cast during the Ming Dynasty and weighs 900 kilos. In the old days, when the pilgrims wanted to show their piety to the North God, they would pay a sum of money to the temple keeper, who would then sound the bell to call for silence. The God, it is said, would then be aroused and get ready to receive the pious worshippers.19 This iron tripod was used for burning incense and paper ingots. It was cast during the Ming Dynasty and weighs tons. On its body are cast the names of the donators and two verses of prayers: May the state proper and the people live in peace! May the wind and rain nourish the crops!20 The decorative woodcarving on the holy table tells the story about a Tang Dynasty Li Yuanba taming a fierce horse. This horse is said to be extremely fierce and nobody but Li Yuanba could ever get it under control. The table was made in 1899 in the later stage of the Qing Dynasty when China was subjected to invasion and humiliation by the Western colonialists, so the picture is actually an implicit illustration of the Chinese people’s struggle against foreign invaders. These men wearing tall hats and tailcoats are supposed to be the foreign aggressors. They are made either to fall on their backs or go down on their knees begging for mercy.21 This is a camphor wood screen on which several lions are carved and its two sides are made to look exactly the same. The lion looking after a babylion female and the other playing an embroidered ball is male. In the Chinese mythology, the lion is always a symbol of dignity and power. That’s why you can always see a couple of stone lions at the entrance to a temple or a house of the rich.22 These idols, 24 in all, are the Daoist generals under the North God. They are made of papermache and are very lighteach weighing less than 5 kilos. They are made to lean forward so as to show respect to the North God and look frightening to the mon people.23 This pavilion is just like a table standing on the flourthe four pillars do not strike into the ground. It has lased for over 400 years but stil remains intact!24 The statue in the middle is the North Godthe supreme master of the temple. According to the Daoist dogma, the North God is the deity that dominates the Northern World and mands all the aquatic beings. He is said to be able to dispel disasters of flood and fire and to lengthen people’s lives. This statue was cast in 1452 and weighs tons. In the old days, on every March 3 in the lunar calendar, people would carry the small statue at the side and these weapons to parade the streets so as to pray for a favorable weather for the crops.25 This pond, called Jinxiang Pond, was constructed in stone turtle and serpent in the pond are said to be the incarnations of two generals under the North God. Legend ha