Chinese Fishing Village Abandoned and Reclaimed by Nature

A fishing town that has been abandoned and is gradually being overtaken by dense ivy covers a small island off the coast of the Yangtze River in eastern China. It is a secret paradise that has been ruined by time and the elements. Houtou Wan Village is located on Gouqi Island, one of the 394 islands that comprise the Shengsi Islands in the Zhoushan Archipelago. It is just one of many examples in China of small villages becoming abandoned due to a variety of factors, including changes in industry, resource depletion, urbanisation, and isolation.

Only fifty years ago, Houtou Wan Village was a thriving village that finally fell into abandonment due to the small bay’s incapacity to handle the increasing number of fishing vessels. Nature has taken back the land over the previous few decades, turning the hamlet into a hauntingly beautiful utopia, save for a few old residents who refuse to leave their birthplace and a few vagrant tourists.