Last month my mom and dad had a chance to come visit us again; the timing was perfect as we had some time off during the Moon Festival. Besides trooping around the city like tourists, we also took a trip into the Moganshan mountains just 200Km west of Shanghai.

We were hardly the only foreigners out and about that weekend. In fact, the mountain still has a large number of European style villas that were built in the turn of the century when foreginers were looking to escape the Shanghai heat during Summer months. While the estates and villas were reallocated during the Cultural Revolution, some of those houses have now been privatized and turned into guesthouses.

We stayed at a retreat that was way up on the mountain and required a 200 step climb up to reach the former pigsty that was our accommodation for the weekend. The house had two bedroom suites, a living room, a modern kitchen and as a nice perk, it came with a friendly ayi who cooked up a storm for us during our stay. 

We had a chance to trek the mountain through bamboo trails, even have a fire in our private back yard to the kids delight. We forgot the marshmellows but the kids never noticed a thing. They were so facinated by the "live" fire and the outdoor shower that no other entertainment was needed.

 
The bamboo trails went on and on, you could have spent an entire week covering the area.

 

We are already planning to return, this time perhaps in February when there might be a slight dusting of snow on the mountains. Now that would really be exotic for the kids.