The Abandoned Fishing Village of Houtouwan, China
On Shengshan Island, east of Shanghai, China, rests an eerie location. In a village that was once the home of over 2,000 fisherman, only a handful of people remain.
To tourists in the know, Houtouwan is a must see sight. The narrow footpaths take these intrepid explorers past crumbling houses overtaken by vegetation.
The remote village, on one of more than 400 islands in the Shengsi archipelago, was abandoned in the early 1990s as residents moved away, aiming to leave problems with education and food delivery behind them.
What they have left behind is slowly being smothered by the surrounding landscape.
The images you see here are by Reuters photographer Damir Sagolj, serve to demonstrate just how beautiful the mixture of man-made decay and encroaching nature can be.
