Zhoushan Archipelago, northeastern coast of Zhejiang province. [Photo/CGTN]

Located off the northeastern coast of East China's Zhejiang province, the Zhoushan Archipelago is the largest of its kind in China.

The area boasts stunning landscapes and a temperate climate. With fishing as the major industry, people used to lead a simple life here. As time changed, however, tourism began to boom during the industrial transformation.

Due to a lack of resources to sustain a tourism industry, some small islands are losing their residents.

Chen Mo, a professor in the School of Humanities of Zhejiang Ocean University, calls them "the lost islands": "With the decline of fishing and the rise of urbanization, many fishermen have quit fishing and moved to larger islands with better living conditions, only to leave elderly people and dilapidated houses behind."