A little island off the shore of eastern China’s Yangtze River has a hidden paradise destroyed by the forces of nature and time: a fishing community that has been abandoned and slowly being consumed by thick layers of ivy. On Gouqi Island, one of the 394 islands that make up the Shengsi Islands in the Zhoushan Archipelago, is where Houtou Wan Village may be found. It is only one of many instances in China of tiny villages turning into ghost towns as a result of urbanization, isolation, resource depletion, and changes in industry, among other causes.
Houtou Wan Village, which was a vibrant community just fifty years ago, eventually became abandoned as a result of the small bay’s inability to accommodate the growing number of fishing boats. With the exception of a few elderly people who are unwilling to leave their hometown and a few wandering visitors, nature has taken back the land over the last few decades, transforming the hamlet into a hauntingly beautiful utopia.
