Ship shape
With the centenary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic coming up in April, there are dozens of related books due for release over the coming months, covering more angles than there were lifeboats aboard the infamous Royal Mail Ship. There are tiresome self-help books ('how lessons from the Titanic can save your family business'), biographies of key figures, biographies of obscure figures, tales of shipboard romances, a new Sherlock Holmes novel and, of course, new theories about the causes of the tragedy. One of the more unusual volumes is Titanic Style: Dress and Fashion on the Voyage, by Grace Evans, which will be published next week. From the haute-couture of the richest female passengers to the caps and clogs of those in steerage, the book presents the ship as a microcosm of class-ridden Edwardian society and in doing so brings some depth to the atmosphere aboard ship, and to the lifestyles of those who sailed on her. This is also the book to read if you will be joining the period-clothing-optional 12-day Titanic Memorial Cruise, which sets sail from Southampton, Britain, on April 8, for the waters above the Titanic's final resting place, via her original route. For more on this rather morbid-sounding journey, visit
www.titanicmemorialcruise.co.uk.
At the double
For bookings made by Saturday, Dragonair is offering two round-trip tickets to a selec- tion of Chinese destinations for just HK$2,150. The list includes Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Kaohsiung, Kunming, Nanjing, Ningbo, Qingdao, Sanya, Shanghai, Taipei, Wuhan and Xiamen. You can choose to fly to the same destination twice, but to make this package work for you, avoid doubling up to nearby cities such as Xiamen, to which the air- line is now selling round-trip flights for just HK$860. Both journeys must be made by the same person (so you can't split the deal with a partner or friends) and travel periods are from now until Thursday; September 11 to 29; and October 4 to December 20. Call Dragonair on 3193 2222 for bookings, or contact your travel agent.
Peak travel
The Chinese mountain resort of Moganshan (then known as Mokanshan) was a popular summer escape for foreign residents of Shanghai from the late 19th cen- tury until the late 1930s. Carl Crow's Handbook for China, published in 1933, noted that 'The Mokanshan Summer Resort Association maintains sanitation, roads, tennis courts, swimming pool, kindergarten, medical service, dispensary etc. Several hundred foreigners and an increasing number of Chinese enjoy the privileges and the refreshment of the resort each summer ... Several hundred houses dot the sides of the hills, and the village has a number of provision stores, a post office, telegraph office, and a branch of a Shanghai bank.' Moganshan became a Communist Party retreat after 1949 and eventually the main village and surrounding buildings fell into disrepair. In recent years the place has been cleaned up and houses restored as tourists slowly return. In 2007, naked Retreats opened naked Home Village, which turned eight hill- side village homesteads into 'a rustic-chic getaway and a model of environmental sustainability and community co-operation'. Next month will see the official opening of the nearby naked Stable Private Reserve (below), which promises 'a more refined and truly unique luxurious concept, while promoting the great outdoors'. Both places are remote and are some way from the mountaintop village, but transport is provided if you wish to explore the old European area higher up. The easiest way to reach each of them is by private car transfer - from 450 yuan (HK$550) each way - from Hangzhou Airport. See
www.nakedretreats.cn for more details, and look at
www.moganshanlodge.com for other hotel choices, travel advice and a history of the area.