Gouqi Island belongs to a group of nearly 400 islands known as Shengsi Islands, and form a part of the Zhoushan Archipelago, located outside of Hangzhou Bay. It is the largest archipelago of China. Traditionally Zhoushan had relied heavily on its primary industry, which is fishing, given Zhoushan is the largest fishery in China. Nowadays with the development of the secondary and tertiary industries, Zhoushan's economic base has been largely diversified. Ship building and repairing, shipping, light industry, tourism and service industry grow to be the major contributors of local economic output. Consequently, many fishing villages have today become abandoned. Some of the best preserved villages are located in Gouqi Island.

The Shengsi Islands are a popular tourist destination and is still an important fishery area that attracts more than 100,000 fishermen every winter.

An abandoned fishing village in Gouqi Island, slowly taken over by nature. Photo credit