The hit Chinese drama "The Knockout" (狂飙) was filmed in Jiangmen — and it changed how China thinks about this corner of Guangdong. But the real story of Jiangmen predates any television drama: this is the homeland of the overseas Chinese, the land of the Diaolou fortress-towers, and the departure point for a century of Cantonese emigration.
Arrive via the Shen-Zhong Highway — the 24km cross-sea expressway that is itself an engineering landmark. Start in Pengjiang District, the real-world filming location for "The Knockout." Your guide, a local Jiangmen native, narrates which scenes were filmed where. Afternoon: Jiangmen Old Town — arcaded streets, century-old tea houses, and the original Cantonese overseas merchant architecture. Dinner: Jiangmen traditional pork bone rice noodles.
Full day in Kaiping. The Diaolou towers are one of Guangdong's two UNESCO World Heritage sites — fortress-residences built by returned overseas Chinese who brought Italian Baroque, Greek columns, and medieval crenellations back to their Cantonese villages. Zili Village is the most photogenic: six towers rising from rice paddy, with a morning mist that makes the whole scene feel unreal. Afternoon: Majianglong Village — more intimate, less visited, more authentic. Deep-sea saltwater hot spring at a resort near Taishan in the evening.
Morning: Taishan city — the "homeland of overseas Chinese." Visit the Taishan Museum to understand the extraordinary story of 1.5 million Cantonese emigrants who left from here for America, Australia, and Southeast Asia. Lunch: Taishan eel rice (黄鳝饭) — a unique clay-pot rice dish found nowhere else in the world. Pick up Xinhui aged tangerine peel (新会陈皮) — the king of Cantonese cooking ingredients. Transfer to Guangzhou or Shenzhen for departure.
Jiangmen is more than a filming location. Come find the real story.