10 Things to do in Deqing County That You Shouldn't Miss

Reviewed By jameshuang - Taipei, Taiwan

Mogan Mountain (莫干山, also known as Moganshan) is located in the northwest of Zhejiang. According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn (春秋時代, 770- 476 BC), Emperor Wu asked sword smith Gan Jiang and his wife Mo Ye to cast a pair of swords in three months. The location they forged the swords was in the mountain therefore the mountain was named Mogan Mountain. The location became a famous tourist attraction called Sword Pond (劍池). The first to build large European style stone villas, houses and churches were the missionaries in the 1880s. Later in 1910, the Americans and British built summerhouses in the mountain but left the site when the Communist party was rising in 1949. Today, it is a popular tourist destination especially in the summertime. The 4,300 ha (10,626 acre) Mogan Mountain is a summer escape for those living nearby, especially for those from Shanghai. It is a place that most tourists (especially foreigners) will not visit because it is less well-known and not very convenient. My brother-in- law and my young sister drove us from Hangzhou to Mogan Mountain. He visited here before and drove via the narrow mountain road, which was an adventure in itself especially when we passed other cars. Not only the narrow road but also the parking was a big problem when we visited. Luckily, we visited in September not the summertime. We went to the Qing Liang Ting (清涼亭) and Xugguang Tai (旭光台) first. Don’t miss the Xugguang Tai; the view is fantastic and only a short distance from Qing Liang Ting. The next stop was the Wu Ling Village (武陵村) where we saw the Chiang Kai-Shek Residence (松月廬) where Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正, President of Republic of China from 1950 to 1975) with his wife Soong Mei-ling went to for their honeymoon in 1928. We continued to the Lu Hua Dang Park (蘆花蕩公園) and went up to the top where we had lunch in the Bai Yun Coffee Shop (白雲咖啡館). The famous Baiyun Hotel (白雲飯店) is next door to the coffee shop. There are other attractions on the Mogan Mountain, but we had to go to Wuxi in Jiangsu. You need at least one full day to visit most of the attractions and the trails. It is recommended to stay overnight on the mountain. There are many renovated and new villas for overnight stay. The prices for high-end villas are quite expensive, but you can also find reasonable stay on the mountain.