The Yupei Villa for a Beloved Wife — The Liyuan Garden of Kaiping

The owner of Liyuan was Xie Weili, who had spent significant time living in the United States. The name of the property came from the last character of its owner’s name, Li. Construction for the property began in 1926 and it took ten years to finish all the structures. The buildings in Liyuan came in the style of the Chinese eclectic. Some of them are properly Diaolou’s, serving both residential and defensive purposes.


The Yupei Villa is a tower type watchtower villa. As Xie Weili named this building with his own childhood nickname, it is a tower of love as the memorial built for Xie Weili’s second wife, Tan Yuying. Tan Yuying was a very talented woman that died giving birth the year after she was married to Xie Weili. The tower is four story high and open for visits. Its location being in the garden, it impresses visitors with a kind of atmosphere that is calm, artsy and pleasing. Italian décor lines the exterior of this tower.


The general areas of tour interest in the Liyuan Garden are the Villa Zone, with clusters of structures with especially beautiful interiors. It is worth going in for a look. Then there is the gardens featuring beautiful buildings and structures, such as pavilions, bridges, manicured gardens, granite gateway, open air corridor and a very special Vine Pavilion.


#diaolou #kaiping #jiangmen #china #southchina #guangdong #xieweili #historicalsites
#历史古迹

Post by Helen Yu (Chestnut Journal) | Feb 20, 2025