Plants Are Taking Over This Abandoned Fishing Village

Just 40 miles southeast of Shanghai, Shengshan Island rises from Hangzhou Bay. Instead of the urban sprawl of that nearby megalopolis, there you'll find another kind of growth. The vines swallowing the houses in the village of Houtouwan lend them a feel of ruin, although they’ve only been abandoned for two decades.

Despite China's fishing industry boom in the 1990s, individual fishers in the village faced a crisis of declining stocks. Almost everyone left Houtouwan for better prospects elsewhere. But the odd combination of empty houses and greenery on the seaside hills have made Houtouwan an offbeat destination for a small number of curious travellers.