Moganshan dispatch, week 42

A new plan caps the scenic area at 24,000 visits a day

China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration (国家林业和草原局) has approved a master plan for the Moganshan National Scenic Area (莫干山风景名胜区) covering 2024 to 2035. The approval is dated 21 September and was posted on the administration’s website on 22 September. Deqing News (德清新闻网), the county paper, reported it on 14 October.

The plan fixes the scenic area at 36 km², with a core protection zone (核心景区) of 9.72 km². The daily capacity is set at 12,000 visits as the planning figure (“reasonable”) and 24,000 as the absolute limit. Beds inside the area are capped at 4,200, and admitting visitors beyond capacity is forbidden. The boundary has to be surveyed and marked within two years. Deqing News adds that the plan names 13 new sights and builds a tourist transfer centre around Moganshan town. None of these figures describes the ticketed area, which our pages put at about 20 km².

What this means for a visitor: nothing changes at the gate yet. No quota or booking system has been announced, nor a date for one, and no day has been reported closed for reaching the cap. If the cap is ever enforced, public holidays are the days it would touch first. Our scenic area page explains what the ticket covers.

Source: 国家林业和草原局 (National Forestry and Grassland Administration), reply 林保发〔2026〕46号, 22 September 2026, tier 1. https://www.forestry.gov.cn/lyj/1/gsgg/20260922/689252.html

Source: 德清新闻网 (Deqing News), carrying 浙江发布 (Zhejiang Release), 14 October 2026, tier 2. https://dqnews.zjol.com.cn/dqnews/system/2026/10/14/035310995.shtml

National Day in numbers: 2.3 million visits to the county

The holiday count, still missing when last week’s dispatch went out, appeared on 9 October. Over the seven days from 1 to 7 October, Deqing County counted 2,302,100 visits and RMB 3,177 million in tourism income. Deqing station handled about 57,000 departures and 56,000 arrivals. Hotels and guesthouses across the county logged 156,500 check ins, and Mogan Yujie (莫干·庾街), the shopping street at Yucun (庾村), opened five new shops.

These are county figures, and the paper names no method of counting. No Huzhou or Zhejiang bureau figure has been published to set beside them. They cover the whole county, so they cannot be compared with the scenic area’s daily cap.

What this means for a visitor: the station alone saw more than 100,000 journeys in a week, so a national holiday fills the trains and the county’s beds as well as the mountain. For any holiday week, book both first.

Source: 德清新闻网 (Deqing News), 9 October 2026, tier 2. https://dqnews.zjol.com.cn/dqnews/system/2026/10/09/035308496.shtml

Race weekend at Yucun next week

The Kailas Moganshan Skyrace (凯乐石莫干山跑山赛) runs from Friday 23 to Sunday 25 October, based at Yucun, with courses from 10 km to 100 km. Entries are closed. The organiser’s page now sells shuttle seats for the race at RMB 15 from Deqing station to the transfer centre (换乘中心) on 23 and 24 October, with a return run on 24 October that also stops at Deqing West station. No traffic notice for the weekend had appeared by 14 October.

The Spartan Race at Moganshan (斯巴达勇士赛莫干山站) follows on 7 and 8 November, with entries open until 23:59 on 31 October. The news page has the details of the Skyrace and the Spartan Race.

What this means for a visitor: for a quiet walk, keep away from Yucun from 23 to 25 October. Runners will find the shuttle seat on the organiser’s page, next to the race entry.

Source: 朗途体育 (Letour Sports), event page, read 14 October 2026, tier 3. https://moganshan.saihuitong.com/events?mid=72300

Source: 最酷 (Zuicool), registration page, read 14 October 2026, tier 3. https://reg.zuicool.com/11858

Pink grass in flower at Xiazhu Lake

Pink muhly grass (粉黛乱子草) is in full flower at two parks the county’s tourism group runs at Xiazhu Lake (下渚湖), a wetland off the mountain, Deqing News reported on 14 October: the wetland park and Qihuan Valley (奇幻谷). According to the parks’ publicity lead, the muhly flowers from late September to early November and the zinnias last to the end of October. The wetland’s reed beds are at their best in the last ten days of October, when rowing boats take visitors through them. The report gives no ticket prices.

What this means for a visitor: if you have a spare afternoon in Deqing before early November, the flowers are out now. For the reeds, wait until after 20 October.

Source: 德清新闻网 (Deqing News), 14 October 2026, tier 2. https://dqnews.zjol.com.cn/dqnews/system/2026/10/14/035311010.shtml

The railway: the end of year promise again, but no date

On 10 October the county’s party secretary, Wang Bo (王波), rode a trial train on the Hangzhou to Deqing railway (杭德市域铁路) between Chunhui Park (春晖公园) and Dongshanyang (东山漾) stations. He called it the final push before opening, Deqing News reported on 12 October, and repeated the promise to open by the end of the year. On 13 October the paper reported that 212 of the line’s staff hold first aid certificates. No opening date, timetable or fare has been published. The news page reported the trial runs on 7 September.

What this means for a visitor: for a trip in October or November, plan on the high speed train to Deqing station, as in our guide to getting here.

Source: 德清新闻网 (Deqing News), 12 October 2026, tier 2. https://dqnews.zjol.com.cn/dqnews/system/2026/10/12/035309814.shtml

Source: 德清新闻网 (Deqing News), 13 October 2026, tier 2. https://dqnews.zjol.com.cn/dqnews/system/2026/10/13/035310366.shtml

Last checked 15 October 2026 by Cyril Drouin. Prices, timetables and entry rules on this mountain move without notice, so confirm anything you are booking around.