Film festival attendees will have the opportunity to visit a precious and historical site, a group of unique ancient watchtowers, situated in the Guangdong province of China.

In arranging the visit for film festival attendees the organizing committee teamed up with ancient architectural experts. They visited Zili, a village located in the Kaiping county of Jiangmen city in Guangdong on September 19th 2003. The visit gained the full support and assistance of the local government and parts of the watchtowers that have never been opened to the public will be shown to the visitors, allowing the attendees to enter an unknown world of ancient Chinese culture.

The Kaiping watchtowers were built by Chinese people living overseas and represent a combination of Chinese and Western architectural styles. There are currently 1833 towers and they are recognized as being a model of overseas Chinese culture and an impressive symbol of Chinese architectural art. In June 2001, the watchtowers were listed as a national Chinese key historical and cultural protected site by the national congress. In view of this, the site is now applying to the UN for a World Cultural Heritage site listing.

The Guangzhou Grand Entertainment Company, who are assisting the organizing committee, have shot and produced some archival and documentary films about Kaiping watchtowers in the program Over the Land. The program celebrates the watchtowers unique artistic form of expression and their importance in the nation’s history. Grand Entertainment would like to share these precious historical cultural remains with people who are interested in the history of human culture.