Taiping Karst Cave

　　   Taiping Karst Cave. Located in Meizao Town, just over 200 meters from National Highway 319. The cave entrance still retains ancient stonewalls, indicating that it was once a military stronghold. Its history as a strategic pass can be traced back to the Southern Song Dynasty’s Marshal Yue Fei. In the third year of the Shaoxing era, Yue Fei succeeded in suppressing bandit forces in the cave, and later, due to its position at the intersection of Ningdu, Xingguo, and three other counties, he established a fort here. The third year of the Shaoxing era corresponds to 1134 AD, meaning Yue Fei's establishment of this stronghold dates back 868 years. Two of the seven major battles recorded in Xingguo’s history occurred within this cave. During the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, peasants rose in rebellion against the army, but both uprisings ended in defeat here, with several thousand casualties. As people wished to avoid further warfare, the cave in Meizao came to be known as “Taipingyan” (Peaceful Rock). Taipingyan is a mid-sized, labyrinthine limestone cave, with a total area exceeding 10,000 square meters. The cave features huge chambers and a complex layout, with at least three known levels—the upper level being dry, the middle level damp, and the lower level home to multiple underground rivers. Dozens of branching tunnels crisscross in all directions, extending into the unknown. Of the 30+ caves, some span hundreds of square meters, while others are merely a few square meters. The cave's pathways twist and interconnect like a maze. Its stalactites and stalagmites take on a multitude of shapes: lifelike statues of Buddha and people, vividly rendered stone lotuses, banyan trees, and peaches, dreamlike clusters of towers in the air, the winding “Great Wall,” along with lively troops of stone monkeys, serene sika deer, lumbering penguins, and fierce eagles—all are brought to life in stunning detail. Bathed in light, they display a dazzling array of shifting colors, a truly awe-inspiring sight.