I visited Zili, Majianglong and Jinjiangli in January 2010.

Before I had set out on my journey to Kaiping, I was of the impression that I could rely on the local buses to get me to where I wanted to go. The Kaiping website made it all sound so easy.

I was quite sure that I would easily reach Zili from the coach station by local bus. But no one told me that I would be told to alight at a stop 4 km away from the village. So yes, I trekked the entire 4 km to the village.

Anyway, my point is, do not trust that the local buses at Kaiping. You will be much better off hiring a driver. And that was what I did. In fact it was the driver who found me. I hired him on the spot!

As for the diaolous, I have to say that I am glad they have been inscribed. Besides their roles as village fortresses, they also represent a part of Chinese culture which was before their inscription not represented at all on the list. This is something like Chinoiserie in reverse.

I too met a lady at Ruishi Lou and I should think she was the same one Els had met. Her husband is the 4th generation owner of the building if I remember correctly. She gave me a quick introduction of the building and then charged me 30Y for it. I sure hope she had told me more about the place than she had for Els! But she did give me a nice photograph of the building.