China's Shengshan ghost island village fascinates tourists

Like in the fairy tale of "Sleeping Beauty," a lush layer of plants has entirely covered the houses in Houtouwan, a former fishing village on Shengshan Island in the East China Sea.

Up to 2,000 people, most of them fishermen, once lived in the remote and difficult-to-access small town on the rocky coast of Shengshan, some 90 kilometers (55 miles) off the coast of Shanghai.

When their hard work no longer brought in enough money, more and more residents gave up their homes and moved away in the 1990s. The remoteness made supplying the island community simply too difficult.

Since then, nature has gradually reclaimed the place, blending the vacant, slowly decaying cottages into the forested coastal landscape.

Only a handful of villagers remained — too few to put a stop to nature. In 2018, five people are said to have lived in the village, doing without running water and electricity.

However, the unique vegetation around the houses — overgrown mainly with ivy and vines — now attracts the occasional visitor to the village.

Photographers and tourists have made the place a popular Instagram spot. Unlike other "lost places," Houtouwan can largely be explored freely. Former residents now earn their money by hosting people on day trips.

Island authorities initially asked for the place to be left alone, but tourists are now expressly welcome. In addition to viewing platforms, accommodation has even been set up on the island for guests from the mainland.

But the return of people — at least during the day — cannot put a stop to nature's efforts to reclaim the village. These days, large parts of Houtouwan are only accessible with the help of a machete.