The Shengsi Islands sit at the outer edge of the Zhoushan Archipelago, where the East China Sea meets the mouth of the Yangtze River. They are the furthest and least visited of the major island groups, reached by slow ferry from Shenjiamen or Ningbo, and the journey itself — passing smaller fishing islands at the edge of the archipelago — is part of the experience. The main island of Shengquan has fishing villages, hiking trails along the cliffs, and a pace of life that feels genuinely remote from the mainland.
The islands are best known among Chinese travellers for the village of Hou Tou Wan, where abandoned stone houses have been overtaken by vegetation. Beyond that specific attraction, the Shengsi Islands offer a China that is unhurried: seafood restaurants serving the morning's catch, rough paths along coastal cliffs, and the particular quality of light that comes from being surrounded by open sea. The ferry from Shenjiamen takes two hours; from Ningbo there are also direct boats.