Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Wednesday 13 June 2018
Explore an abandoned Chinese village now engulfed by nature

By SAM McNEIL get to Houtouwan from the
FU TING main town Shengshan. "It
Associated Press was too far away. They ar-
HOUTOUWAN, China (AP) rived in the dark and left in
— Blanketed with greenery, the dark," he said.
the ghost town is perched Houtouwan is "a micro-
atop cliffs looking west into cosm of the entire Chinese
sea mists obscuring the ho- society," said Zhao Yeqin,
rizon. Abandoned homes an associate sociology
ravaged by weather and professor at the East China
creeping vines stand silent Normal University in Shang-
but for the surf, the whine of hai. The village reflects a
mosquitos, and birdsong. broader migration trend
This is Houtouwan — "Back that has seen countless
Bay" in Mandarin — an Chinese move from rural
abandoned fishing village areas to urban megacities
engulfed by nature on the like Shanghai, Shenzhen
far eastern island of Sheng- and Guangzhou.
shan, 90 kilometers off the In Houtouwan's heyday, Lin
coast of Shanghai. Fazhen ran a small store in
Small groups of tourists on 1984 catering to fishermen.
a recent weekend braved He sold cigarettes, alcohol,
muddy footpaths through fishing supplies, canned
overgrown lawns to chase food, biscuits and fruit that
foggy photographs and he imported on boats from
answers to the question: the mainland.
What happened to the vil- "They went to the sea when
lage? the boats were sailing, and
The story of the Wang fami- they came back when it
ly may provide one answer. got windy. They played
Wang Yi left the village at mahjong," Lin said while
the age of 5 when his family This May 19, 2018, drone photo shows ruins of a building in the abandoned fishing village of Hout- taking a drag from a ciga-
moved to the island's main ouwan on the remote island of Shengshan, 90 kilometers off the coast of Shanghai. rette.
town to access its better Associated Press When the people left, he
services. began planting cauliflow-
When he returns to Hou- said, pointing at her former Shengshan then a taxi up a the college graduate, said er, cabbage, lettuce, cel-
touwan, the 27-year-old family home. Vines have hill to a cemetery overlook- fishermen returned from ery and basil. He says he
college graduate gathers since wound through the ing the village, and then the sea with emptier and now farms more than 1,300
honeysuckles for a fragrant three-story house and ivy descend down perilous emptier nets before China square meters (a third of an
tea that reminds him of his has crept through the now footpaths into the mist and imposed seasonal morato- acre) of various plots scat-
birthplace. broken wooden front door. ivy. riums on fishing operations tered across abandoned
Memories of village festivals The island draws tourists Huang Dan, a 22-year-old in the late 1990s to protect lawns, gardens and ter-
draw infectious laughter from the mainland intrigued student, was among the fish stocks from further de- races.
from his mother Zhu Mandi, by the village's unique dev- visitors on a recent week- pletion. He chuckled when asked if
who still dreams about her astation. Ivy cloaks some end who said she wanted Yet Sun says most of the vil- the village was haunted.
childhood among the mist- buildings completely but to photograph the beauty lage's 600 families ultimate- "People got scared and
shrouded mountains next on many Houtouwan hous- of human structures sub- ly left Houtouwan because said ghosts were living
to the sea. es, beautiful roof tiles still sumed by roots, rain, vines it lacked proper roads and here, so it was called ghost
"I dream of playing here, gleam and broken veran- and wind. a school. village," Lin said.
and it looked like it did das offer majestic views of "It feels like this place be- "Transportation was incon- "I've lived in this world for
when we played here the stormy sea. longed to nature from the venient," he said, making such a long time, and have
when I was young," Zhu Visitors must take a boat to very beginning, and the old it difficult for teachers to never met one."q
invaders finally left, and na-
ture finally made it back,"
she said.
The village isn't entirely
abandoned. Five people
still reside here with a re-
laxed pack of dogs that
roam the empty homes.
Sun Ayue lives in a small
home just off the main path
through the old village. The
62-year old former fisher-
man remembers the vil-
lage's boom times — and
the bust.
China is the world's largest
This May 19, 2018, photo shows tourists next to an abandoned fishing nation. But poor en-
building in the former fishing village of Houtouwan on the re- This May 20, 2018, drone photo shows buildings covered in ivy
mote island of Shengshan, 90 kilometers off the coast of Shang- forcement of fishing regula- in the abandoned fishing village of Houtouwan on the remote
hai. tions has led to a rapid de- island of Shengshan, 90 kilometers off the coast of Shanghai.
Associated Press cline in fish stocks. Wang Yi, Associated Press