Houtouwan

Houtouwan (Chinese: 后头湾; pinyin: Hòutóuwān) is an abandoned fishing village and tourist attraction on the northern side of Shengshan Island (Chinese: 嵊山岛; pinyin: Shèngshān dǎo), one of the Shengsi Islands, a chain of nearly 400 islands^[1] located 64 kilometres (40 mi) east of Shanghai, China.^[2][3]

Houtouwan
Ghost town
Houtouwan at dusk
Houtouwan
Coordinates: 30.727°N 122.82°E / 30.727; 122.82
Country	China
Region	East China
Time zone	UTC−8 (Pacific)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+08:00 (CST)

History

The village was established in the 1950s and was once home to more than 2,000 fishermen and 500 homes.^[4] By the 1990s, the population began to rapidly decline due to lack of adequate connection to the mainland, education, and job opportunities.^[4] Only a handful of people remained in the village by 1994,^[5] and by 2002, the village had been depopulated,^[6] although in 2015 a few people were known to reside there.^[5]

Since its abandonment, the once-bustling village has been overtaken by greenery,^[1] and it has become a "popular tourist attraction" which has resulted in some former residents returning each day to work at the village.^[4][5]