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Houtouwan is a fishing village located on Shengshan Island, part of the Shengsi Archipelago off the east coast of China.
The Shengsi Islands are located about 60 kilometers southeast of Shanghai. The only archipelago officially declared a National Scenic Area in China.
With more than 400 islands, Shengshan is the easternmost island known for having China’s largest fish farm along with neighboring Gouqi Island, so it’s famous for its seafood.
The beautiful scenery of Houtouwan in Shengshan Island is an uninhabited village area built on hills facing directly to the sea.
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The Residents Moved, The Village Emptied
There is a crisis in the village due to a lack of fish catches and activities in the maritime activities faded.
The difficulties of education, facilities, access, food supplies, and the economy have made local residents there decide to urbanize and gradually leave the city, even the locals are already prosperous enough.
Houtouwan became increasingly deserted because its residents decided to move. It had become an abandoned and almost forgotten village.
Houtouwan’s Beauty of Nature and Mystery
There are no residents who want to live here, and Houtouwan seems like a dead village.
Almost all the buildings melt into nature. After decades of abandonment, the empty houses in the cliffside village have become overgrown with lush vines.
Nature slowly took over the village after decades of being abandoned by the residents. The walls of the buildings in Houtouwan are almost all green.
Dozens of houses appeared to be fragile, the roofs had collapsed, and household equipment was scattered inside. Home furnishings are left in their respective places, both in the interior and in the yard.
Some roads connecting the villages have also been covered by plants and other objects.
Activities Around ‘The Haunted’ Houtouwan
There is still activity from residents, and new accommodations have appeared around Shengshan Island, but not on Houtouwan.
It is unlikely that long-time residents will return to Houtouwan. It took a huge overhaul and government support to reactivate a dead village.
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The Origin Story of Houtouwan: The Fishing Village
Houtouwan was once a village where the majority of workers were mostly fishermen. They live by selling fish or catching them from the sea for daily food.
In 1980, Houtouwan had more than 3,000 residents.
The structure of the buildings in Houtuouwan is mostly commercial and permanent, with quite magnificent modern architecture, some of which are built with more than 2 floors.
This proves that the local residents are economically capable of building large houses.
In 1990, local residents began to move because the village was having a crisis due to catching fish. The location’s access and lack of facilities also strengthened the reason they moved.
In 2002, the village was officially vacated and merged into a nearby village.
It is an uninhabited village, but the Shengsi Islands authorities are still concerned about safety factors in Houtouwan.
Standard safety procedures began to install signs marking dangerous areas because many of the building structures in Houtouwan are fragile and started to collapse.