News
Moganshan news: what changed, and when
What is changing in Moganshan (莫干山) and in China's entry rules, logged newest first. Every entry carries its Chinese source with a date and a tier, and ends with one line on what it means for a visitor. The mountain is in Deqing County, Huzhou, Zhejiang, 60 km from Hangzhou and 200 to 240 km from Shanghai. Search for Moganshan news and Shanghai results come first; those belong to Moganshan Road, the gallery street in Putuo District, and none of it appears here.
News here is narrow: something changed, and the change carries a date. A restated press release does not qualify. The longer pieces are in the journal.
Deqing line trains join Hangzhou Metro Line 10 in tests, but Deqing's stations stay shut
From Saturday 7 November, the four car trains built for the Hangzhou to Deqing line carry passengers on Hangzhou Metro Line 10. Only the stretch already open is in service. No station in Deqing takes passengers yet, and there is still no opening date.
For a visitor: Until an opening is announced, a visitor coming from Hangzhou still takes the high speed train from Hangzhou East to Deqing station; going out to the new stations on the metro gets you nowhere.
- Weekly dispatch
Moganshan dispatch, week 45: rain for the Spartan Race weekend
Week 45, 2026
Rain is forecast for both days of the Spartan Race on 7 and 8 November. No visa free extension had been announced by Wednesday, the red maple season still has no date, and local winter shoots arrive this month.
For a visitor: If you can choose your days, walk on Friday: Saturday and Sunday are forecast wet, and the Spartan Race fills the resort on both.
- Weekly dispatch
Moganshan dispatch, week 44
Week 44, 2026
Thursday to Saturday are forecast dry and mild, and rain returns on Sunday. Spartan Race entries close at midnight on Saturday, and the county paper now reports the Skyrace field at 15,000 in its own words.
For a visitor: If you can choose your days, walk on Friday or Saturday: both are forecast dry, Sunday brings light rain, and Tuesday is wetter still.
A 33 km trail running route from Yucun stays open after the race
A trail running route named after the ultrarunner Zhang Weiqiang opened at Yucun during the Skyrace weekend. Unlike a race course, it stays open to the public, though no map or track has been published.
For a visitor: If you run trails and are staying near Yucun, you now have a named full day route from the town, but wait for a published map or track before setting out, since the report gives none.
Three Deqing parks leave autumn leaves in place
Three Deqing parks are leaving fallen leaves in selected areas for autumn walks, with litter collected and full sweeping resumed when weather creates a hazard.
For a visitor: Visit in dry weather if you want to see the retained leaves, since staff resume full sweeping wherever wet leaves or blocked drains create a hazard.
- Weekly dispatch
Moganshan dispatch, week 43
Week 43, 2026
Rain is forecast from Friday to Sunday, the same three days the Skyrace fills Yucun and the paths above it. Spartan Race entries close on 31 October, and three new places are open at Laoling and on Yujie.
For a visitor: If you are on the mountain this weekend, expect rain from Friday to Sunday and runners on the paths and in Yucun from Friday evening; Monday is the first dry day in the forecast.
A tea farm café at Laoling lets visitors pick and make tea
A Mogan Huangya maker has turned an empty roadside rest stop on his tea farm into a café where customers can pick leaf and watch it fired. It is open now, with no hours or prices published.
For a visitor: If you are on the south side of the mountain this autumn, you can watch tea fired by a recognised Mogan Huangya maker without waiting for spring, but ask your guesthouse to check it is open before you go.
Entries open for a women only trail race near Moganshan on 13 December
Registration is open for a trail race that only women may enter, on Sunday 13 December in the subdistrict next to Moganshan town. Entries close on 12 November, or sooner if the places run out.
For a visitor: If you are a woman who runs and you are planning a December trip, you can enter until 12 November while places last; any other visitor that weekend need change nothing, since the race is off the mountain.
- Weekly dispatch
Moganshan dispatch, week 42
Week 42, 2026
The scenic area now has an approved plan with a legal ceiling on visits, but no quota or booking system yet. From 23 to 25 October the Skyrace fills Yucun, and the railway still has no opening date.
For a visitor: Nothing changes when you reach the scenic area gate: the new ceiling of 24,000 visits a day has no quota or booking system behind it yet.
- Weekly dispatch
Moganshan dispatch, week 41
Week 41, 2026
The National Day holiday is over, and Saturday 10 October is a working day across China, so the first weekend after the holiday is a single Sunday. The next busy dates on the mountain are two race weekends, in late October and early November.
For a visitor: Treat Saturday 10 October as a weekday and Sunday 11 October as the weekend, and if you want a quiet visit before winter, avoid 23 to 25 October and 7 to 8 November, the two race weekends.
Spartan Race Moganshan is set for 7 and 8 November, with entries open to 31 October
The Spartan obstacle race returns to the Moganshan resort on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 November. Its registration page lists four courses, from 5 km to 50 km, and takes entries until 31 October while places last.
For a visitor: A visitor who wants a quiet weekend on the mountain should avoid 7 and 8 November, and anyone racing or staying near the resort that weekend should book a room now rather than in the last fortnight.
Cold air brings rain to the first half of the holiday, then autumn
A cold front from the north is pushing Deqing into autumn this week. The first four days of the holiday look wet and windy, the last three dry, with mornings in the low teens in the county town and colder on the mountain.
For a visitor: Pack a waterproof and a warm layer, and if you can choose the day for a long walk on the mountain, take 5, 6 or 7 October rather than the first four days of the holiday.
A village power station in Moganshan town opens on trial as a pool garden
The name promises a sinkhole. What a reporter found was a disused village power station and kindergarten turned into a tropical garden with a pool, food, coffee and stream walking, open on trial with no published hours or prices.
For a visitor: There is a new place to spend a few hours in the villages of Moganshan town, but it is on trial, so check it is open and what it charges before you drive out, and ask before wading a stream after this week's rain.
- Weekly dispatch
Moganshan dispatch, week 40
Week 40, 2026
More than 12,000 guests stayed on Moganshan over Mid Autumn, and at least one hotel is booked out for the whole of National Day. Persimmon picking opens in a Moganshan village on 1 October.
For a visitor: If you have no room booked for 1 to 7 October, look at the days after the holiday rather than hunting through it. The Hangzhou to Deqing railway still has no opening date, so nothing changes about how you get here this month.
Deqing publishes its holiday programme, with a street festival at Yucun
The county's programme for the two holidays appeared on 24 September. Closest to the mountain are a street festival at Yucun and chestnut picking at guesthouses. Prices and hours are not given.
For a visitor: If you are staying at Moganshan over either holiday, the Yucun festival evenings are the nearest thing on the programme, and chestnut picking is worth asking your host about before you arrive.
- Weekly dispatch
Moganshan dispatch, week 39
Week 39, 2026
The Hangzhou to Deqing railway has its wayfinding signs up and its station shopping centre opening this week, but no published opening date. Two new places to stop have opened in a Moganshan village.
For a visitor: Nothing this week changes a trip you have already booked. If you are planning National Day, no Golden Week programme for Moganshan has been published with a week to go, and the Hangzhou to Deqing railway still has no opening date, so plan on arriving at Deqing station exactly as you would have done in the spring.
Moganshan's 1910 swimming pool reopens as a café on trial
The pool and the building beside it had been sealed up for years. Both are open again, with coffee and kiln baked bread served at the water's edge, and no published hours or prices yet.
For a visitor: If you are already paying to enter the scenic area there is now somewhere to sit at the top, but the hours are not published, the prices are not published, and a trial opening can close again without notice.
Osmanthus is in flower on Moganshan, weeks ahead of the valley
More than seven hundred trees are opening across the mountain, and the main flush runs for weeks rather than one weekend. The mountain is ahead of the valley because it is colder.
For a visitor: If the scent is what you are coming for, you have weeks rather than a single weekend, and the two places the county paper names are both inside the ticketed scenic area.
Chestnut picking in the Moganshan villages runs to about 15 October
Deqing News reported on 17 September that the chestnut groves around Gaofeng village have come into season and that picking should hold until about 15 October, which covers both the Mid-Autumn and the National Day holidays.
For a visitor: If you are on the mountain between now and the middle of October, chestnut picking is a cheap half day that needs no scenic area ticket. The same weeks are the busiest of the autumn, so book a guesthouse table rather than turning up for lunch.
A quarry at the Kaiyuan Senbo resort is due to start trial running in October
Deqing News reported on 16 September that the Interstellar Mine Pit, built inside a disused quarry at the Kaiyuan Senbo resort, is under construction and is expected to start trial running in October. The resort is near Xiazhu Lake, not on Moganshan itself.
For a visitor: Nothing is bookable and no opening day has been published, so do not build an October trip around it. If you are already booked into the resort with children, ask at the desk whether the pit is running before you pay for anything extra.