Found in Zhejiang province, close to Hangzhou, it is certainly not the easiest of places to get to, but if you are up for an adventure and can speak a bit of Chinese, it is certainly possible.

Most people that we spoke to that had already visited Moganshan had traveled by private car, and the only other information we could find online was 'get a bus from Hangzhou to a town called Wukang, which is near to the mountain'. We decided we were interested in getting out of the city of Shanghai and traveling to somewhere new, so why not give it a go...

5 modes of transport later and we had made it from Shanghai to Moganshan!

Now the tuk-tuk was not a necessary part of the transport (you may be able to get a mini-van all the way from Wukang bus station to the mountain top) but it was certainly fun!

Just a couple of important things to mention here: There is an entrance fee of 80RMB to get into the 'Moganshan Scenic Area', which includes being able to visit all the 'tourist sights' on the mountain if you choose to. And although we read that you can walk up Moganshan, or walk from Sanqiao (a small town on a junction at the bottom of the hill) we wouldn't recommend it. You would have to walk on the road, which was winding up the hill and had vehicles racing along on it. You are much better getting a lift up and saving your energy to enjoy the adventurous paths and trails nearer the top of the mountain.

We had booked a room at Bai Yun Hotel (°×ÔÆ·¹µê), due to a lot of friends telling us that hotels were likely to be full when we got there. I'm glad we had booked so that we didn't end up having to waste time asking in hotels when we arrived, since the hotels were fairly spread out. This hotel was further up the mountain than the main village street of Yin Shan Jie, where you can find several restaurants, hotels and a western run coffee shop/restaurant, with friendly staff that can help you out, but was in a nice quiet area on its own.

We chose to spend our time wandering the less well-trodden paths and enjoying the peacefulness, and looking for views out through all the trees. We came across many old houses, some of which were now being used for hotels or had local Chinese living in them, and others that looked to be abandoned. It seems such a shame for so many beautiful houses to be left abandoned in such a beautiful area.

It was great to be able to breath in the fresh air, enjoy the peaceful environment and not be rushing to get anywhere. I guess the only down-side to being in this environment was all the mosquitoes and gnats that like to bug you, so I recommend you take some repellent and a long sleeved top to cover up, or make sure to hide inside around dusk time.