So yesterday I talked all about Hangzhou, so I’m going to devote today’s post to Moganshan, arguably one of my new favorite places in China. Typically, I have fallen in love places here that evoke a sense of culture, history and untarnished, authentic “Chinese-ness” (however, those places are fewer and farer in between). I can’t really say that Moganshan screams “China”, but it is definitely historical and for about 72 hours I forgot I was in China.
Moganshan used to the destination of choice for foreigners living in Shanghai and surrounding areas back in the early 1900s, before the commies came to power. Most of the architecture isn’t your typical Chinese temples or pagodas – it’s actually a lot of Western-style mountain homes. I guess Mao like this area too much to completely rid it of its capitalists influences so the houses stayed intact.
I think the area kind of dropped off the radar for foreigners (but stayed popular for some Chinese tourists) until a few years ago, when the influx of “laowei” really got going. Even with the increasing popularity, it’s still got a small-town, mountain village feel with the restored stone houses that have been converted to guest houses and the few hotels dotted along the one paved road going up the mountain.
We stayed in a bread-and-breakfast type house a little ways up the mountain. It’s run by the wife of a former “mini-media mogul” in Shanghai, Mark Kitto, who started the first series of expat mags in the city - only to have them taken away by the CCP (that’s another interesting story which should make a good blog post later). While his wife is busy with their mini-hotel, he runs “The Lodge”, a restaurant/coffee shop that has AMAZING food. We ate there the first night and loved it so much we were squeezed in for a meal the next night too. The staff (and Mark and his wife) were super hospitable, a nice change of pace from the usual Chinese sub-par service. It was fun talking to Mark and getting his opinion on writing and media, particularly in Shanghai. In a way it inadvertently helped me distinguish which path to continue to strive for.
Being surrounded by blue skies and ever greens on the mountain was just what mom and I needed to escape from Shanghai. At night we could see every star in the sky – most nights in Shanghai or any other major Chinese city you’re lucky to spot 5 (and even then, they could just be satellites). We went hiking (more like walking along paths and up some stairs) for most of the day on Monday and even stopped off at a “tea plantation” for lunch. All the food on the mountain is locally grown and our lunch of farm-fresh veggies and pork was one of the tastiest meals I’ve had in a while. Just to give you an idea of how fresh the meat is we saw a chicken go from walking around with its head on, then with its head off, then with its feathers plucked and then on someone’s plate. Mom was worried about the sanitation, but as I told her, if people aren’t getting sick and its recommended by the house then I’m sure we’ll be ok.
By the time we left on Tuesday afternoon, we were both exhausted. Four days of walking, biking and hiking had done us in. Now, I’m not out of shape (I don’t think) but muscles were hurting in my legs that I hadn’t used in quite a while. Perhaps it was all the hills on the mountain.
Anyway. I’m kind of sad to be back at work and not on holiday, but if there was a time to need a break and a place to go, Moganshan in October was just what I needed!
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