A Luoding mountain city travel guide so niche I almost want to keep it a secret

I scoured the internet and couldn't find many guides for Luoding, so I decided to take a chance and head there during the Mid-Autumn Festival to beat the crowds. After I got back, I couldn't help but exclaim: This small city is seriously underrated! 😭 With three spots offering three completely different vibes, I was able to hit them all in one day for an incredible experience! [📍 Wild Nature Route] The combination of karst peaks and rice paddies in Pingtang Town is a rare sight in Guangdong. You don't need to travel all the way to Guangxi or Guizhou; you can see the perfect blend of karst landscapes and agricultural scenery right here in Luoding. You can see farmers busy harvesting in the rice paddies, and the rustling sound of sickles cutting through the rice is incredibly soothing. Walking along the field paths to the foot of the peaks, you'll see rock walls covered in vines and shrubs growing from the crevices—it's all raw, untamed beauty. Julong Cave, right next to the peaks, is also worth a visit. The stalactites are still growing, and you can see water dripping from the tips of the stalagmites. Standing in front of stones that take hundreds of years to grow just one centimeter, you really feel how small humanity is. [📜 Ancient Culture & History] The Luoding Wenta (Literary Pagoda) is an ancient structure that will definitely make you look back again and again; I walked around it twice and still couldn't get enough. Despite over 400 years of weathering, the pagoda remains rock-solid. The angle of the eaves changes on every level, and the pointed roof is incredibly sleek. When I was there, I ran into an elderly man sketching; he captured the silhouette of the pagoda in his watercolor painting perfectly. The ancient city wall nearby isn't long, but you can still make out the "Hongwu" inscriptions on the bricks. Touching the 600-year-old stones with my fingertips, the cold, rough texture was truly striking. [🔥 Tracing the Hero's Hometown] The former residence of Cai Tingkai has a rugged, tough vibe—with its watchtowers, high walls, and thick doors, it looks exactly like a fortress from turbulent times. Yet, the house hides many intimate details: flowers in the courtyard, wood carvings under the corridors, and patterns on the window lattices. The blend of hard architecture and soft traces of daily life is just right. Just outside the residence is Jinyin Lake. The water is vast and calm; it's hard to imagine that such a peaceful land produced such an iron-willed general. After a day of exploring, with nature, history, and culture constantly switching, my mind was blown the whole time. A hidden gem of a small city like Luoding, which hasn't been overdeveloped, is definitely worth more than one visit. I'll be back for a second trip in a different season!