National Treasure
Trip Start
Jan 06, 2011
1
31
68
Trip End
Ongoing
Moganshan, Zhejiang, China
Sunday, February 6, 2011
But back to my travels of this week, Mr. Zhao did a wonderful job driving me up to Moganshan. As we left Shanghai the scenery gradually changed - from a city scape to clusters of two story multi family buildings. Each building had an open second floor deck, usually with laundry hanging to dry. ,About half of the houses had roof top solar hot water heaters, several homes had exposed piping. Most homes had the Red China flag hanging on the deck. It appeared that patriotism was more prevelent in the countryside, as compared to the city. Maybe this was because of the New Year's holiday but the red flags stood out against the drab buildings and grey landscape. There were lots of farms with neat rows of short crops covered in plastic domes. It was good to see where my produce was coming from.I also noticed extensive irrigation systems and fish farms. They each had a little shack at one corner of the pond, some of them looked liked someone lived there, some just looked like tool storage. There were also orchards with vegetables growing between the rows. I noticed that the billboards and highway signs were only in Chinese, no more English. I wasn't in Kansas anymore. I started to get a little worried when we entered Hangzhou . it looked a run down industrial city , this wasn't what I hoped for as a country get away. I wanted to see something besides concrete and neon and that was certainly true but I did wonder what I was getting into. But the miles past and I saw a few billboards with green mountains and the word "tourist" in English, we were on the right track.
As we started up a mountain on a winding two lane road we came to a rangers station with a sign for the National Park. Mr. Zhao spoke with the ranger and I could tell he was trying to get out of paying the fee so I took out my wallet and paid the 50 rmb, got my ticket and we continued. He called the inn keeper on his phone and got the final directions. We kept driving up and around, every 50 yards brought a hair pin turn, he beeped his horn as we approached each turn. A few times we passed another car. The more we drove the more I realized just how high we were going and how beautiful it was. I kept saying oh and ah as I saw the next peak. Finally we got up to the top and he had to stop driving because the road was snow covered. The innkeeper met us at the car and spoke briefy with Mr. Zhao. As he took my bags from Mr. Zhao I asked my driver if anyone here spoke English, they both looked at each other and my driver said no. I kind of knew that but the realization that he was dropping me off at the top of a mountain for two days with no one who spoke English sunk in. The innkeeper made a point of pointing out the "Lodge". I found out later that it was closed for the winter. . The innkeeper's wife met us at the door and they both carried my bags up to my third floor room. The room was basic but had everything I needed including a private bath, TV, an electric tea kettle. The best feature was a private balcony. I already pictured myself drinking my morning tea watching the sun come up.
As soon as I got settled I went out for a walk to discover the area. It's absolutely beautiful and such a contrast to the bustle of Shanghai. It felt so good to walk outside and see bamboo forests, hear birds singing, and feel the breeze. The weather was perfect for a hike - in the 50's, sun was still out, a light breeze. As I was walking around I realized that nothing like a restaurant or store was open. there were a lot of hotels and businesses but they were all closed. It was like the Jersey Shore in the winter. I was really hungry by the time I got back to my hotel but realized that dinner would consist of what was in the locked cupboard in the lobby - cup of noodles, bbq chips and a soda. It's surprising how its possible to communicate the basic necessaties with sign language.
I slept like a baby despite the hard mattress. The TV only had Chinese stations so it really was a retreat from modern distractions. Exactly what I was looking for. I did start reading a book I bought in Shanghai, highly recommend it - The Good Women of China by Xinran. Really gave me insight to what women here have been thru in the last 60 years.
Next day I ate a cereal bar I packed for breakfast and started my day of discovering around 10am. I walked until 4 pm, stopped along the way but basically spent the whole day hiking the mountain. Dinner was the same, noddles and a bag of chips. Fell asleep reading about the women of China.
The next morning Mr Zhao arrived before our agreed to time of 11 AM, I was sitting on the balcony wrapped in a blanket drinking tea and I saw him taking pictures of the mountain. I hoped that meant he liked coming up here too. The ride down the mountain was great too - this place really is a national treasure -
History of Moganshan - here's some info from wikkipedia -
According to Chinese legend, in 770- 476 BC, China’s most talented swordsmith Ganjiang, arrived in the mountains. It was here that he cast and forged a pair of special swords on the demand of the Emperor of Wu. Gan’s wife was called Moye, hence the name Mogan Mountains and the main tourist attraction Sword Pond.
The crisp refreshing breezes of Mogan Mountain first enchanted foreigners in the 1880’s, where rooms and houses were rented from locals. This ideal summer retreat soon attracted the foreign community in Shanghai who came together, dug deep into their pockets and bought the mountain top for 50 dollars. Large European style villas, houses, churches and public halls were built for missionaries, businessmen, customs officials and their families. Many of these villas and houses are still standing, with some being turned into hotels and guesthouses operating today.
By 1910 approximately 300 foreigners, mostly Americans and British, had set up summer homes on the hill. The foreigners left the mountain top with the rise of the Communist party in 1949, where the villas were handed out to different work units or “danwei’s” from Hangzhou and Shanghai.
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Comments
It looks gorgeous in these mountains. Beautiful shots of the bamboo and the rooftops from your balcony. Going this time of year was a great idea since it was so peaceful. (Too bad the hot water and food were limited!) In summer it is probably much more populated and active. Check out Guilin and the Li River for a possible future adventure.
I've heard Gulin is wonderful from several people so that's on my list, will have to check out Li River.
Sharon, What great pictures - and a great adventure. Love all your pictures of the bamboo trees. With all that bamboo you didn't come across any pandas, huh? (No excitement to report in Raynham)
Hi Evelyn,
Great to hear from you. Glad you're enjoying the pictures. Eventually I'll get up to Beijing, where I think there are pandas in the zoo but so far it's been chickens, dogs, cats. I loved the bamboo forests too. say hi to everyone in Raynham., hope you're surviving the snow, Spring is on the way.