Though such instances are very rare, still this has happened in actual that an abadoned fishing town of eastern China has taken over by Nature and turned into a beautiful tourist destination ! This tiny hillside town, with due course of time, has naturally shaped into a garden of architectural topiary and draws a good number of tourists now !
We are speaking about a village named Houtouwan which was established on the Chinese island of Shengshan in the 1950s. It was a fishing village and located in the Shengsi Islands – a cluster of 400 islands situated 40 miles east of Shanghai. On the archipelago, surprisingly, Houtouwan is the only town which is naturally converted from decay to a coveted tourist attraction !
Earlier Houtouwan happened to be a booming city and at its peak, it was home to more than 2,000 fishermen among other residents, but it was abandoned in the early 1990s. Over the years, as ships got bigger in size, Houtouwan’s tiny port was unable to harbour them any more. Also, excepting the sea-route the town remained connected to the outer world, only by a small winding path up a hill-side.
Not only this, the reasons for the near total abandonment of the village include problems with education and food delivery as well. A former local resident explained, “Giving birth, children going to school, when old people got sick – all we had to do through that small path. It took too much effort.”
Once a bustling village is only home to a handful of people now, yet is a popular tourist attraction. Over the past almost 30 years, Nature has reawakened the town as its shunned buildings are covered with a lush layer of green. Almost every square foot of the brick and stone buildings are draped over by ferns and vines now.
After its abandonment it was rediscovered some 4 years back and since then Houtouwan is honoured with the name of a ‘green ghost town’ and now is a demanding tourist destination.
With an entry fee of 50 yen i.e. about 50 cents, tourist can enjoy its eerily beauty by walking alongside a dirt path that pitches between houses and greenery. Again, visitors have got more wondered when they see some of the abandoned houses are still furnished !
Reaching Houtouwan is time consuming definitely ; it may take up to 36 hours to approach the town from mainland China. The hilly terrain and overgrown paths make the village a bit of a hike. So it provides a good climbing experience to its visitors.Travelers can take a series of ferries, buses and taxis to reach the town. Few of the residents of the village are also working as guides to aid the curious visitors.
