Article by: Amber Woo
Photos by: Trip members
Okdeal Siming Mountain Hiking Trip in 5-7 April 2018
When I read OKDeal’s Qingming Holiday trip plan on WeChat about hiking in Siming forest park, I didn’t take the pictures too seriously. The beautiful blossoms were too pretty to be true.
Regardless, I joined the trip to get some fresh air. Our bus left Shanghai early in the morning, after a few hours on the highway, the bus drove us into the beautiful forest mountain.
It was Qingming, as expected, raining. The bus started to zigzag its way up into our mountain guesthouse. We couldn’t help but admire the misty mountains under the clouds, dotted with pink cherry blossoms, with small villages in the distance.
As we finally reached our guesthouse on the mountain, it was already mid-afternoon. After warming up with a hearty local family style lunch, we enjoyed a leisurely walk around the quiet village. We were a group of 25 people from 9 different countries, we soon started to mingle and socialize.
After dinner with some tasty local vegetables, some of us started a fun KTV party at the bar of the resort.
Cherry Blossoms
The mountain weather was so unpredictable. The next morning, we started hiking in chilly wind and misty fog. Luckily, it slowly cleared up by noon.
We walked through tea fields, bridges, reservoirs, gentle hills exploding with cheery blossoms and other wildflowers. Large oasis of pink and red and green is a feast to our eyes, as if we were entering into a painting by Monet.
Although I have hiked a few mountains in Zhejiang province, it’s my first time to see such vast full bloom and blossom, the colorful life felt at every turn. Best of all, we were the only group of people exploring the mountain with the local farmer from the guesthouse.
He showed us his future tomb on the way, it was a peaceful place surrounded by flowers, he certainly has prepared himself a great spot. “I wish I could be buried here in my afterlife.” I overheard a travel mate say.
Persimmon Tree Village
The next day, the Sun came out. Our bus ride among Siming Mountains into Persimmon Tree Village was incredibly gorgeous, past the surprisingly beautiful reservoir and up into the highlands overlooking rolling green mountains dotted with cherry blossoms.
The village in this region date back more than five centuries. It is nestled among views of mountains, river valley, persimmon trees and bamboo forests.
The houses were built with ancient stones. Since it’s a public holiday and we expected the area to be overcrowded with other visitors, to our surprise, it wasn’t that busy.
The friendly old farmers dry their bamboo shoots under the sun, chicken walk leisurely under the shade, offering an idyllic Chinese village life. After a delicious lunch with fresh bamboo shoots and vegetables in the village, we had to leave for Shanghai. We all wished we stayed a little longer!
Thanks OKDeal for bringing us to this amazing place during the spring blossoming season.
A special thanks to our tour leader Charles and Mandy!
