According to Chinese legend, in the Spring and Autumn Period of 770- 476 BC, China’s most talented swordsmith Ganjiang, arrived in the mountains. It was here that he cast and forged a pair of special swords on the demand of the Emperor of Wu. Gan’s wife was called Moye, hence the name Mogan Mountains and the main tourist attraction Sword Pond.
The crisp refreshing breezes of Mogan Mountain first enchanted foreigners in the 1880s, where rooms and houses were rented from locals. This ideal summer retreat soon attracted the foreign community in Shanghai who came together, dug deep into their pockets and bought the mountain top for 50 dollars. Large European style villas, houses, churches and public halls were built for missionaries, businessmen, customs officials and their families. Many of these villas and houses are still standing, with some being turned into hotels and guesthouses operating today.
By 1910 approximately 300 foreigners, mostly Americans and British, had set up summer homes on the hill. The foreigners left the mountain top with the rise of the Communist party in 1949, where the villas were handed out to different work units or “danwei’s” from Hangzhou and Shanghai
