Lost my phone on Jiangnan's Number One Mountain but found the whole summer's coolness

📅 Mogan Mountain Hiking Diary

📍 Location: Huzhou, Zhejiang · Mogan Mountain (one of China's four top summer resorts, the "Jerusalem" of homestays)

✨ Soul strike! When the Jianchi Waterfall pierced through the bamboo forest, I forgot to breathe

At 7 a.m., I stepped onto the bluestone path into the Jianchi Scenic Area. Suddenly, a 45-meter waterfall poured down the cliff, and sunlight refracted through the mist and bamboo leaves, creating a rainbow. I hurriedly took out my phone to shoot a slow shutter photo, but a sudden mountain wind swept it away into a deep pool. Yet I smiled, because at this moment, I was finally free from being hijacked by notifications.

🌿 Immersive mountain living experience | Every bamboo leaf tells the story of Wu and Yue through the seasons

1. Jianchi (The millennium legend of Ganjiang and Moye)

✅ Must-do:

- Rush before 6:30! Capture the "Double Sword Reflection + Rainbow," using 0.5x wide-angle for full extension.
- Follow the guide to hear the sword-forging legend, use your phone’s recording function to capture the echo effect.
🚗 Transport: Bus from Hangzhou North Bus Station (50 RMB, 1.5 hours) → Scenic area shuttle bus (30 RMB/person).

2. Naked Heart Valley (A fairy tale castle in the clouds)

✅ Hidden activities:

- Rent a mountain bike (80 RMB/hour) to ride through tea gardens, shoot "Terraced Fields Sea of Clouds + Castle Spires."
- Join the "Naked Heart Little Farm" experience (150 RMB), feed alpacas and milk sheep.

3. Yucun Cultural Market (Utopia for artsy youth)

✅ Legendary moves:

- Learn to make bamboo fans with intangible cultural heritage inheritors (50 RMB/hour), shoot close-ups of the "hot stamping craft."
- Eat "Mogan Yellow Bud Tea Cake" (8 RMB), tea fragrance is fresh and sweet without being greasy.

4. Luhuadang Park (Firefly secret base)

✅ Must-shoot:

- At dusk, capture "Reed Flower Snow + Sunset Silhouettes," use slow shutter on your phone to shoot "mountain mist flowing."
- Starry sky camping (100 RMB/person), see the Milky Way with the naked eye, bring your down jacket!

5. Dakeng Scenic Area (Hiker’s paradise)

✅ Extreme experience:

- Hike 4 km to the summit, shoot "Naked Heart Castle + Bamboo Sea panorama," wearing white clothes makes photos pop.
- Encounter "wild squirrels," use a telephoto lens to capture feeding moments.

🍜 Mogan Stomach Strike | The culprit behind gaining five pounds in three days

- Must-eat list:

1. Bamboo Forest Chicken Hotpot (120 RMB): Free-range native chicken with thunder bamboo shoots, soup so fresh and flavorful it’ll make your eyebrows fall off!
2. Mogan Mountain Goat Meat (80 RMB): Goat meat stewed with radish, sprinkled with scallions for aroma.
3. Fermented Rice Dumpling Soup (10 RMB): Handmade glutinous rice balls with sweet fermented rice, a stomach-warming magic.

- Avoid: Don’t buy the scenic area’s "sky-high priced bamboo tube rice," villagers’ homemade steamed rice is more cost-effective!

🛏️ Accommodation Recommendations | Live inside the scenery

- Mountain top homestay: Naked Heart Castle (2800 RMB/night), ancient castle suite facing the canyon, butler delivers freshly picked blueberries.
- Village at the foot of the mountain: Xipo Mountain Village Resort (1200 RMB/night), rammed earth house with terrace views from the window, breakfast included.

💡 Pitfall Guide (Lessons learned the hard way!)

1. Transport:
- High-speed train from Hangzhou to Deqing Station (20 RMB, 15 minutes), taxi to scenic area (50 RMB).
- Don’t take illegal taxis! Scenic area shuttle bus is a must (30 RMB/person).
2. Must-bring list:
- ID card (for ticket checks), sunglasses (anti-glare), cash (some small shops only accept cash).
- Sports shoes! Expect 20,000 steps per day.
3. Hidden activities:
- Discovery Extreme Park: Free to shoot "high-altitude net array," drone aerial shots are even more stunning!
- Yiyuan Organic Farm: Hike through the original village, encounter herds of cows (bring a telephoto lens!).

📸 Legendary photos

- Jianchi Rainbow Waterfall (original photo straight out! ISO200 + high-speed shutter to capture light spots).
- Naked Heart Valley Castle panorama, using phone’s professional mode ISO100, shutter 1/2000 sec.

💰 Three-day expenses: Transport 200 + Accommodation 4000 + Food 600 = 4800 RMB

✨ Random thoughts
Mogan Mountain really is the "urbanite’s cool antidote"! Although I lost my phone, bamboo forest chicken and the starry sky healed everything~ Next time I’ll bring my parents to stay for a week, picking tea, stargazing, listening to waterfalls every day, becoming a lazy person spoiled by the bamboo sea! (Also, fermented rice dumplings are absolutely amazing!)