Chikan (赤坎) is a market town a short distance from the main diaolou villages, its main street lined with arcade shopfronts in a distinctive mix of Portuguese-influenced arched colonnades and Chinese signage that reflects the area's history of emigration to Latin America as well as North America. The ground floors are still occupied by small businesses; the upper floors are slowly decaying, their wooden shutters peeling, their interiors visible through broken windows. The town has the pleasant, unpreserved quality of a place that hasn't quite decided whether it's worth preserving yet.
The film "Let the Bullets Fly" (让子弹飞), one of the highest-grossing Chinese films ever made, was shot largely in Chikan, which has brought some domestic tourists but hasn't noticeably changed the character of the streets. The town market, especially busy in the morning, is a practical stop for snacks and clay pot rice before or after the tower villages.