Moganshan

China	China Con't	South East Asia	South-East Asia Con't	Asia Pacific	Oceanic
- Hainan Island	- Moganshan	- Ria Bintan, Indonesia	- Phnom Penh, Cambodia	- Tokyo, Japan	- North Queensland, AU
- Yangtze River Cruise	- Harbin	- Phuket, Thailand	- Siem Reap, Cambodia	- Kyoto, Japan	- Sydney, AU
- Hong Kong	- Beijing	- Singapore	- Luang Prabang, Laos		- South Island, NZ
- Xi'an	- Jingdezhen	- Borneo, Malaysia	- Hanoi, Vietnam
- Yangshuo	- Chengdu	- Boracay, Philippines	- Halang Bay, Vietnam
- The Silk Road		- Bali, Indonesia

Our Trip

In April, 2009 our family along with another family took our first road trip to Moganshan, China. The adults in one van and the kids in the other van. Gotta Love It!! We stayed for 2 nights in mid-April and the weather was perfect. Moganshan is about a 2 hour and 45 min. drive from Shanghai located about 60km north of Hangzhou..

Moganshan is a beautiful mountain filled with bamboo forests and amazing hiking. It’s the perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of Shanghai and an even better opportunity for cleaning out your lungs with some fresh air. We stayed at the Songliang Hotel which is a “Chinese” style hotel but right next to the Moganshan Lodge. We chose this hotel because we were really excited to spend some relaxing time with our friends and enjoy some good western food at the Lodge.

Mark, the owner of the Lodge and his staff really went out of their way to make our stay a good one. We pre-ordered our meals and they helped us plan our day with an amazing hike that took us up and around the mountain and through villiages. We hiked 8 hours that day, many places without a path, scaling mountains with only bamboo trees to hold on to.

Fun Facts & Tips

Moganshan was developed in the early 1900’s and was very popular with the foreigners (mostly Americans and Brits). They used this area to build their summer homes and considered it the perfect escape from the city life of Shanghai. This of course all stopped in 1949 when the communists took over China but some of the houses are still there and have been restored to accommodate guests today. There are many old buildings you can see while hiking the mountain or just walking around town.

Where to Stay:

We stayed at the Songliang Hotel, but the most popular for expats is the Naked Retreats. Here you can go with large groups and rent a house that comes with an Ayi and daily breakfast basket. They have yoga classes, BBQ’s and, you can rent bikes if you’d like. If you have a dog, you can even bring it along.

Welcome to Moganshan, China

Moganshan
In the middle of a Bamboo forest.

Sophie helped a few tea pickers pick green tea leaves and we hiked through a village where we stopped for lunch. The food turned out to be outstanding (or maybe it was because we were famished!), granted we stuck to a vegetarian meal. Our hike ended with a billion steps to the road. It was hard but really fun. Sophie, the youngest of the bunch did fantastic. Usually, she doesn’t like to break a sweat but she was the leader of the pack. I guess all the fresh air invigorated her.

That night we hung out at The Lodge ate some dinner drank a few beers and relaxed while the kids watched a DVD and played with the local dogs.

The next day we had an outstanding breakfast, walked around a little and got back in the van for the ride home with a side trip toAnji. The drive took about an hour and it was beautiful, but painful in that our drivers were not used to mountain driving. They were driving just like in the city, on the wrong side of the road and super fast. Once we arrived though, we got to try a new kind of tea, do some shopping and then head back to Shanghai.

We truly loved it here, and I’d go back in an instant. It’s a wonderful relief from the pollution, crowds and noise of Shanghai.

Additional Pics.