Archaeologists recently discovered three century-old watchtowers in Guangzhou's suburbs, the Information Times reported yesterday.

The watchtowers, located in Lianxi Village, Huangge, Nansha District, were built nearly 100 years ago by local villagers to look out for pirates, the report quoted an archaeologist as saying.

There had been dozens of watchtowers in the village, most of which were dismantled, an elderly resident surnamed Mai said.

The most well-preserved watchtower, named Haitou, is a three-storied building standing 15 meters high. The outside walls, built of bricks and cement, are smooth and 80 centimeters thick, making them difficult to climb. A 1.2-meter-wide corridor on the top floor of the tower has holes in the wall from which snipers could shoot enemies. A wooden staircase spirals upstairs inside the tower.

Many villages in the Huangge area built watchtowers and purchased arms to fight pirates in the early 1900s, Mai said. When pirates attacked, nearby villages would alerted using horns. The towers were gradually dismantled with the disappearance of the pirates and arrival of a better social order.

Editor: Yan