For much of the 20th century, this poor area of China was also, paradoxically, one of the most cosmopolitan regions of the country. It was the point of origin for many Chinese who emigrated overseas and settled in Chinatowns around the world, working in restaurants and on railroad projects. Huang Tang, the head of the Wong’s Association in Taishan, which tracks the genealogy of Wong families from the area (including this reporter’s), estimates that there are 1.3 million Taishanese and their descendants around the world. Perhaps the most prominent Taishanese descendant in the United States is Gary Locke, the current commerce secretary and former governor of the state of Washington.

“Taishan is a little bit freakish, from the speech of people here to the way they do things to the way they dress,” Mr. Cai said, referring to the inescapable mix of East and West.

But Taishan is depopulating, as families continue emigrating overseas to join their relatives or settle in large Chinese cities like Guangzhou. Taishan now has about 900,000 people, a drop of 10 percent since the 1990s.

So the towers are neglected or, in some cases, being destroyed. Such was the case in Hehe, a village in Taishan, where a five-story tower at one end was torn down sometime in the last 30 years. In another village, Changgang, a tower still stands, but its metal shutters are rusted and one wall is defaced with graffiti from the Cultural Revolution: “Chairman Mao 10,000 years.”

In Miaobian, a peasant family has moved into a three-story villa built about 80 years ago by a wealthy relative. Ringed by palm trees, elements of the house could be described as Victorian or Georgian or Edwardian, but not so much Chinese. It has bay windows, cathedral ceilings and a balustrade along the wide staircase leading to the front door.

Image Credit... The New York Times

“I’ve lived here 10 years,” said Wen Weihui, 58, as he stir-fried vegetables in a wok in the villa’s basement. “It’s my family that built this. The original owner died in America.”