Around the turn of the 20th century, a handful of Shanghai expats stumbled up the 700-metre slopes of Moganshan, outside of the neighbouring city of Hangzhou, and claimed it as their exclusive summer heat retreat. They built stonewalled villas, churches, swimming pools and tennis courts, set amidst cool green bamboo forests and freshwater springs. Later, Chiang Kai-shek and mob boss Du Yuesheng muscled their way into the summer playground, acquiring their own grand mountain-top mansions.

After 1949, ‘Shanghai’s Hamptons’ gradually fell into disrepair. Creeping weeds and wildflowers reclaimed once-manicured lawns and forest paths. Villa roofs caved in and floorboards rotted. The old cathedral was turned into a carpentry workshop.

A visit to the area today affords an enchanting pastiche of spiked bamboo forests, dense rolling tea plantations, stone ruins and fairy-like bowers. But the mountain-top is flickering back onto the map as a tourist escape. Local restaurants and guest houses now occupy the blue and red-roofed former homes of missionaries and taipans, while global hotel chain Radisson manages Du Yuesheng’s old pad. It’s the newly launched Naked Retreats, however, that is proving the greatest draw of all.

Naked Retreats – and no, it’s not a nudist colony – was started by a trio of modern-day expats with the aim to create a “city escape of a more complete and sustainable nature.” They rent five farmhouses from local villagers in the tiny village of Sanjiuwu, around three hour’s drive from Shanghai. A peaceful remove from the Moganshan tour groups, Sanjiuwu, or “395” village, is nestled on a dead-end road halfway up the mountain, and boasts an entire resident population of just 20.

Naked’s whitewashed mud and stone cottages are comfortably appointed – think DVDs, full kitchens and crisp white linen bed sheets – while still retaining an effortlessly chilled vibe. The rustic charm is reinforced by interiors with hardwood floors, bamboo thatched roofs, and eclectic sofas ranged around a potbelly stove. Housing up to 20 people they are ideal for groups of friends, who can book the entire place for long weekends of lazy barbecues on the patio and country hikes during the day; board games and whiskeys by the fire at night. The rooms themselves are pretty spartan, so if you aren’t occupying the entire abode be prepared to get to know your fellow houseguests very well, as you share bathroom, kitchen and entertainment facilities.

With fully equipped kitchens, many guests choose to bring their own cooking supplies. Otherwise, the ayi can whip up tasty Chinese meals using homegrown vegetables freshly plucked from the garden plot. In the morning, you can help yourself to a DIY breakfast basket. Or, if you’re feeling particularly energetic, take a morning hike up the mountain paths to The Lodge (www.moganshanlodge.com), where a former member of the Welsh Guards greets travellers with slap-up bacon sandwiches and Bloody Marys – proudly continuing the welcoming traditions of this historic hilltop.

www.nakedretreats.cn