Le Passage Mohkan Shan

The lush forests of Moganshan have historically offered a cool, calm retreat from the intense heat of Shanghai summers, with many of the 1930s foreign elite building holiday homes in the region. Taking its architectural cue from those manor houses is Le Passage Mohkan Shan, a property fitted out in French country style, with oak furniture, ‘30s tiling, antique wooden floors and rugs, roll-top baths, and cosy fireplaces. Many rooms also overlook a stunning stone courtyard where a saltwater swimming pool can be found – a pop of sea green set against an incline of organic tea plantations, bamboo groves, and a 12,000 rose-bush garden. The hotel also places an emphasis on fine dining, with a roster of (occasionally celebrity) chefs providing seasonal cooking with organic local produce – the bread is especially delicious – as well as an extensive wine list of biodynamic and natural wines. Dinner can be taken by the fire, or even down in the wine cellars, where the hotel brews its own chest-hair-inducing pear brandy.