Around 65 kilometers from Shanghai lies the small village of Houtouwan, where up to 2,000 people once lived in around 500 houses. Most of them were fishermen. But in the 1990s, when their hard work at sea no longer brought in enough money to live a good life, more and more residents are said to have left the village on the remote island of Shengshan. The families either went to the mainland or moved to the other side of the island where there is a town. The remote location of the place and the difficulty in providing supplies are also cited as reasons why hardly anyone remained. The residents who are still there probably have neither running water nor electricity.
Now nature is taking back the place. Climbing plants wind their way around the abandoned houses and cover the village in beautiful, lush green. Numerous tourists, influencers and photographers have already discovered that this is a visual highlight and a pretty backdrop.
Unlike many other lost places, people are allowed to visit the place. In Houtouwan there is a viewing platform, a shop – and if you can’t get enough of the silence, you can also spend the night there. There is already a hashtag for the green place on social media.
“Urbexer” and Lost Places:
If a place is not opened to visitors, “Urbexers” usually have a dangerous hobby: They visit forgotten, abandoned or dilapidated places that are sometimes in danger of collapsing. They usually have good camera equipment on board to take photos and videos of the seats. However, the exact address of the lost place is never revealed – this is considered an absolute no-go in the community. This is intended to prevent people from traveling to the places who cannot do anything with the abandoned beauty and are likely to cause destruction.
In addition to the general risk of injury, visiting such a place can have legal consequences: It is often assumed that empty and abandoned buildings no longer have an owner. A dangerous misconception. Urbexers who enter such premises or buildings without official permission are trespassing. It is always advisable to ask the owner for permission beforehand.