A 'forgotten' village in China that was abandoned by most of its inhabitants during the 1990s is now a tourist hotspot.
Houtouwan in the north of Shengshan Island - one of the 400 Shengsi Islands - is now a ghost town with just a few people living in it.
Its crumbling buildings have been overrun with green vegetation amid narrow footpaths, reports The Atlantic.
In its heyday the village was home to more than 2,000 people, most of them fishermen and reaping the rewards of a booming fish market in China.
Many reasons have been given for Houtouwan's decline and its residents' mass migration away from it in search of a better life.
For one, competing with the major city of Shanghai around 40 miles away to the east meant that it lost out on vital fish stock.
A lack of fishing regulations at the time resulted in problems with food delivery to the village as well.
In the end, the fish-dependent population began to migrate to the China mainland in the early 1990s for better access to food and by the start of the 2000s only a few people remained.
In 2002 it was officially depopulated and merged into another village nearby.
These days, the locals call it 'Wurencun' which means 'no person village' and the place has a lush green covering that gives off a mystical feeling.
All that is heard around are the call of birds, mosquitoes buzzing and the surf of the ocean that is close by.
The eerie-looking village can still be visited by tourists today who want travel there and witness for themselves the rows of buildings swallowed up by nature and blanketed in foliage, from ivy to creeping vines and
A series of atmospheric photos of the abandoned Chinese village went viral in 2015 and led to a quick surge in tourism in Houtouwan.
Photos have shown a dense green-swept village and images of one of the few remaining residents - a fisherman who had no running water and electricity and only occasionally left the hillside village to play a game of mahjong.
The Shengshan Island government began employing measures to control the hundreds of tourists visiting the place and eventually set up a viewing platform that people can pay to stand on for amazing vistas of the site.
Vendors on the remote island sell fresh seafood and although you cannot stay in the village, there is bed and breakfast accommodation available in other nearby areas.
The only refreshment you can buy in Houtouwan itself is bottles of water.
Locals also offer tourists guided hikes around the area, although signs have been placed to warn the intrepid visitors entering any deteriorating buildings.
Many buildings have collapsed walls and roofs and in some of them you can still see the bits of household furniture and items left behind, all dusty and decayed.
In 2017, the once-busy fishing village was reported to have brought in more than $100,000 in revenue thanks to ongoing tourism and a clear love by people for visiting isolated places frozen in time.
