Wonders of wandering off beaten path in Zhejiang

On the summit of a mountain over 1,000 meters high in a Zhejiang nature reserve, I glimpsed a work of art on the horizon. Beyond the outstretched boughs of Huangshan pines, silhouettes of mountain upon mountain were painted across the sky in striking blues and grays. The scene belonged in a museum, yet it hung in the sky before us, challenging every notion I had of what a mountain should look like in nature.

How did we encounter such an extraordinary view on a trail so ordinary that it was largely empty, even on this holiday weekend? In the three-plus hours we spent hiking there that day, we saw only four other small groups of hikers. The trail wasn't even marked on the maps; we wouldn't have known it existed, had we not passed it during a drive in late January earlier this year. Yet, somehow, this forgotten place possessed a quiet magic of its own, revealed in resplendent moments that took us by surprise.

This was the same trail where, months earlier, my husband Jun and I nearly sighted a "phoenix".While trudging up a steep climb, there was a loud shriek, followed by long, white tail feathers that flashed through the woods. We stopped, ostensibly to catch our breath, as we attempted to reassure ourselves it was not a hallucination. I proffered a curious explanation: that legendary bird in Chinese mythology. We laughed, even as we declared the sighting a blessing. The bird, which we later identified as a silver pheasant, was said to have inspired its fabled counterpart. Yet the experience inspired us to return to the trail, which we hadn't finished hiking, and discover the other wonders it held.

The artistic mountain vista we saw that day was one of the many unexpected delights during our hike. There was the mystery bird that serenaded us from deep in the forest, as if a hermit had decided to play a simple seven-tone melody on a flute; the tune was so lovely I hummed it back in response. A tiny neon green walking stick parachuted down onto Jun's arm, giving me my first close encounter with this curious insect that mimics vegetation. A dark brown laughing thrush, with a Zorro-like mask across its eyes, alighted for a moment on the branch of a pine tree just feet away from us, as if posing, before it flitted away. On our descent, a cacophony of bird calls erupted from the underbrush, culminating in one of the most raucous avian gatherings that I've ever heard in the wild. Each of these moments sparkled like gems, which we tucked in the corners of our minds to cherish long afterward.

Who says you must jostle with the crowds to enjoy a day filled with treasures? For every popular sight that demands a place on your bucket list, there are many more you've probably never heard of, just waiting to be discovered — perhaps on a chance drive through the mountains. They may not have the glamour of their more famous counterparts, such as Hangzhou's West Lake. But despite that, you might just have a transcendental experience anyhow, from being wonder-struck by the beauty of a mountain vista, to wondering if you just saw a white phoenix.

The writer is a freelancer for China Daily.