South Tower, usually called Nan Lou, is one of Kaiping's more sombre diaolou stops. Unlike the better-known village clusters, this tower is remembered for a wartime episode: local defenders resisted Japanese forces here in 1945, and the damaged structure has been left as a memorial as much as an architectural curiosity.
It is worth visiting if you are already exploring the Kaiping watchtower landscape, because it adds a sharper historical edge to the prettier UNESCO-listed villages. The tower is not as decorative as Zili or Liyuan, but its bullet-scarred story explains why the diaolou were not simply status symbols. They were also built for fear, defence, and uncertain times.