Hiking Daluo Mountain near Wenzhou, China
The 2016 Annual Convention of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) was held in Wenzhou, China. It was my third trip to China, and my second to Wenzhou — a large port city south of Shanghai. Always during these conventions, there are opportunities for day trips or half-day trips. I usually try and choose fairly active options to help make up for sitting around in meetings and professional development sessions. On this occasion, I signed up for a hike at nearby Daluo Mountain and didn’t regret my choice for one minute
A bus dropped a small group of us off in a small village and the hike began with a long series of stepped, wooden walkways. The trail — a series of wooden platforms, really — was extremely well constructed. Up, up, up, then finally leveling off a bit at a rock outcropping that offered the first of many spectacular views.
Soon, we were off again, through a mix of forested hillsides and rocky ridges. The path changed from wood to very carefully-crafted granite blocks. Really one of the best developed and maintained trails that I’ve seen.
It was a long hike with a good degree of elevation change. In the end, it was definitely rewarding. To anyone who finds themselves in the Wenzhou area and wants a break from the city, I would heartily recommend Daluo Mountain. Of course, there is also nearby Yandang Scenic Area with its own set of set of spectacular trails. I’ll deal with Yandang in a future post but, be assured, there are plenty of outdoor options in the Wenzhou area.
