Original subtitles

[narrator] An Appalachian dream

that conjured the spirit of the Old West.

The romance of cowboys and lawless frontier towns

are etched into the American psyche.

[narrator] A sky-high solution

to a ground-based problem.

[Meigs] One Soviet TV station described Chiatura

as the Venice of the air.

[narrator] And an island of simple means stranded

[narrator] And an island of simple means stranded

by a revolutionary tide.

[Selwood] It was a brutal time

of mass incarceration and murder.

[narrator] Decaying relics.

Ruins of lost worlds.

Sites haunted by the past.

Their secrets waiting to be revealed.

In Maggie Valley, North Carolina,

set high in the Appalachian Mountains,

is a ruin that once promised fun and adventure.

[Dr. Gutierrez-Romine] There's what looks like an old western town.

There's a main street in the middle,

and on either side there are general stores,

saloons and even a jail.

[Bell] America's full of deserted towns

[Bell] America's full of deserted towns

and this place is high up in the mountains,

so it could be the remains of an abandoned mining town.

But somehow this feels a bit different.

[narrator] That's because this is a world of make-believe.

[Dr. Landdeck] When you really look, it's very clear this is not old.

None of this is real.

It's just been made to look old.

[Dr. Gutierrez-Romine] The real giveaway is this massive structure

[Dr. Gutierrez-Romine] The real giveaway is this massive structure

that was obviously a roller coaster

and there are different amusement rides throughout the place,

so this was a theme park

but what happened to it?

[Bell] Inside there are smashed up arcade machines,

there's a stage for performers

and the costumes have all been left out

which suggests that people upped and left here in a hurry.

[Dr. Gutierrez-Romine] A theme park with no people is spooky and eerie,

[Dr. Gutierrez-Romine] A theme park with no people is spooky and eerie,

and some of the locals even say it's cursed.

Which begs the question,

why did everyone leave?

Why did it close?

[narrator] Dave Angel lives in Maggie Valley.

As a child, he loved nothing more than a day out

at this much-treasured attraction.

[Angel] This is a magical place

to everybody that grew up here.

I have vivid memories from five, six years old

I have vivid memories from five, six years old

all the way up till I was a teenager

coming up here to see friends that would perform and dance up here

and family members.

[Bell] When this theme park opened,

it was the largest tourist attraction in the area.

And it was all made possible by one man with a dream.

[Dr. Gutierrez-Romine] The original owner was Ronald Braxton Coburn

and he was inspired to build a Wild West theme park

after visiting a number of abandoned ghost towns,

real ghost towns,

on a family vacation.

on a family vacation.

[narrator] The idea of a Wild West theme park wasn't exactly new,

but this one, perched on the side of mountain

at around 4,600 feet

was certainly unique.

[Bell] Now, that's almost a mile high.

Hence it's nickname,

the mile-high fun park.

'Cause that's exactly what it was.

[Dr. Gutierrez-Romine] Construction started in September of 1960

and it was an enormous task to say the least.

and it was an enormous task to say the least.

To accomodate the Old West town,

they had to literally shave about 50 feet of dirt and rock

off the top of this mountain.

[Angel] It took 200,000 plus feet of plywood

to build this town.

Over 20,000 pounds of nails

just to construct what was here.

People believed in this vision though.

[narrator] Coburn called his creation Ghost Town In The Sky.

[narrator] Coburn called his creation Ghost Town In The Sky.

When finished it was the highest Wild West theme park in the world.

Yet for the guests that came here,

the magical journey began at the foot of the mountain.

[Angel] So, this is the ticket booth.

This is where your day at Ghost Town would get started.

Big space here where people would start lining up

early in the morning,

waiting in line to grab their tickets.

In its heyday, thousands of people would come up to Ghost Town.

In its heyday, thousands of people would come up to Ghost Town.

[Bell] The only way to get up there was

by a chairlift or a funicular train.

I mean, what a great way to start the day.

The higher you climbed,

the more your anticipation grew.

[narrator] At the summit,

visitors were transported to another world.

[Dr. Landdeck] There was a mining village

where they could pan for gold.

There was what they called an Indian village

where they could learn more about indigenous life.

where they could learn more about indigenous life.

But the most popular by far

was the Old West town.

So, this is the Silver Dollar Saloon.

Back in the day this room would have filled with customers

wanting to see a cancan show.

There'd be a table over here

with gunfighters playing cards.

A gentleman would be playing piano

with some kind of ragtime music.

And the cancan dancers would come out on the stage

And the cancan dancers would come out on the stage

and dance for everyone's entertainment.

[narrator] But what the guests really came for

were the daily staged gunfights.

They waited all day to see it.

It would happen at high noon.

And when it happened the explosions from the gun

and the bang bang bang...

It was just so loud you could see the kids jumping.

Somebody would drop their ice cream.

Somebody would grab their mom's leg.

It was just a thrill to see live action gunfight

It was just a thrill to see live action gunfight

right here in town.

[Dr. Landdeck] The idea of the Old West is so important to Americans.

It's just one of those ideas of strength and independence.

And it all gets wrapped up in this mythology

of a cowboy and his lassos and his hat.

[narrator] Coburn also had some other tricks up his sleeve

[narrator] Coburn also had some other tricks up his sleeve

to tempt Wild West-loving visitors in.

[Dr. Landdeck] One of the tools Coburn used was he brought in

well-known actors of the day

to be there signing signatures.

[Bell] One of the most well-known celebrities

to come up here was Burt Reynolds.

In fact, the reason he left was when he got a part in the movie Deliverance.

[narrator] Ghost Town In The Sky was a roaring success

and by the 1970s was regularly attracting

and by the 1970s was regularly attracting

over 500,000 visitors a year.

[Bell] Things were going great.

So great in fact, Coburn sold the park in 1973.

[Dr. Gutierrez-Romine] After he sold the site,

the number of visitors started to decline quickly.

This park was Coburn's baby,

and he didn't really like the direction

where it was going.

[Dr. Landdeck] And his son actually says

that he'd wished he had never sold it.

that he'd wished he had never sold it.

And so in 1986, Coburn buys it back.

One of the first things he did was to add more attractions,

including this roller coaster that's quite spectacular

and called the Red Devil.

[people screaming]

[Angel] It was amazing to come whirling down this roller coaster,

making this loop and looking way over the valley,

looking at the Blue Ridge Parkway over there.

[narrator] Coburn's investment seemed to work,

[narrator] Coburn's investment seemed to work,

and people started coming back in huge numbers.

For the next few years the park continued to be a success,

but then suddenly all of that changed.

[narrator] In the mountains of North Carolina

is an Old West theme park.

For 40 years it was one of the state's biggest attractions.

But as the new millennium dawned,

it turned out frontier town gunslingers were

no longer the draw they once were.

[Dr. Landdeck] Cowboys had just lost their appeal.

Those old westerns were something your parents did

and grandparents did,

not what the young people of the 2000s wanted to be doing.

[Bell] Visitor numbers continued to fall,

and Coburn just didn't have the money

to keep up the maintenance.

[Dr. Landdeck] In 2002 the chairlift got stalled

stranding passengers for over two hours.

stranding passengers for over two hours.

This was kind of a last straw for Coburn.

[Angel] After the incident when the chairlift broke down,

he knew then it was time to put the park up for sale.

[narrator] For the next five years

Ghost Town's gates .remained closed

It was in desperate need of renovation

and the high-maintenance costs made it a hard sell

to prospective buyers.

In 2007 the park reopened under new ownership.

In 2007 the park reopened under new ownership.

They poured $38 million into it

creating new rides, attractions, shops and restaurants.

[Dr. Landdeck] Even with all that investment,

even with wanting it to succeed,

they were just papering over the cracks.

All those old problems returned.

[Angel] In 2009 the roller coaster ultimately failed some safety tests,

and that was the point where it was decided

it's just not worth the investment to continue to have

the Red Devil Cliffhanger as an attraction.

[Bell] Things weren't getting better here.

If anything they were getting worse.

And certain locals started to claim

that the place was cursed.

[narrator] In 2012 a new set of owners tried their luck,

but quickly found they were fighting a losing battle.

[Dr. Gutierrez-Romine] Perhaps the most disturbing event happened

in July of 2013 when one of the veteran gunslingers

was actually staging a routine and was shot and wounded

with what he said was an actual real bullet.

with what he said was an actual real bullet.

[Bell] This understandably caused a lot of controversy.

And obviously it's something that should never have happened.

Shortly after, the park was closed,

and it's never reopened since.

[narrator] In 2021 Dave Angel was part of a team

that purchased the site.

that purchased the site.

[Angel] Ghost Town is a magical place.

It never felt like this park was ready to close.

[narrator] The new owners are under no illusion

about the size of the challenge ahead,

but it's one they are ready for.

[Angel] The Ghost Town that's here today

probably won't be the Ghost Town of the future.

We'll be building something that's a little newer, safer,

but we'll still bring that feel and vibe that people love to see

when they walk the streets of Ghost Town.

[Bell] Nostalgia is a powerful commodity,

so there is hope.

Ghost Town In The Sky can come back from the dead.

[narrator] In western Georgia,

high above the urban sprawl of Chiatura

is a puzzling relic from the country's Soviet past.

[Meigs] You see a spider web network

of old rusting steel cables.

of old rusting steel cables.

Some of these cables run up to the tops of the steep cliffs.

Others crisscross the town.

[Dr. Mabry] Everywhere you look there's a cable line going somewhere.

It's not exactly clear what these are for or why they're there.

[Auerbach] At first you might think they're power lines,

but then you notice that there's cable cars hanging off the wires,

so these were clearly built for transport.

[Meigs] The cable cars look like something you'd find at a ski area,

but there are no ski slopes here.

but there are no ski slopes here.

[narrator] The concrete remains of a bygone era

betray the town's true origins.

[Meigs] The whole area has a strong industrial feeling to it.

This was not a place that people went for vacation.

This was a center of industry.

[Auerbach] Something is still being produced here,

and perhaps that's a clue

to the original purpose of this site.

[Meigs] There must have been a very good reason to invest

to invest so much

in building this elaborate transportation network.

[narrator] In Chiatura, Georgia are the remnants

of a unique Soviet system of cable cars.

They were intended to solve a very specific problem.

-[Dvalashvili in foreign language] -[translator] This used to be

a functional building for 65 years for the cable car,

and it was the oldest cable car station

in the former Soviet Union.

in the former Soviet Union.

[narrator] Giorgi Dvalashvili is an assistant professor

at Tbilisi State University.

When he was young,

the city of Chiatura was his playground.

-[Dvalashvili in Georgian] -[translator] In my childhood,

I frequently used to take this cable car with my friends.

We would go up to look over and see the views,

and it was the most favorite cable car ride for us.

[narrator] The cable cars were originally installed

[narrator] The cable cars were originally installed

to overcome the town's extreme geography

of steep-sided cliffs and river gorges.

What motivated their creation was a valuable commodity

crucial to the production of iron and steel.

[Meigs] In the late 19th century

prospectors found large deposits of manganese

in the cliffs above this town.

[Dr. Mabry] Manganese was an essential ingredient in making steel.

[Dr. Mabry] Manganese was an essential ingredient in making steel.

So, without it

you don't have one of the most fundamental building blocks

of the modern world.

[narrator] In 1872 mining began,

and the region was swiftly transformed.

[Auerbach] Chiatura quickly became the most prolific site

for the production of manganese ore,

responsible for about 50% of the world's supply.

[narrator] A fact that didn't escape the attention

of Bolshevik leaders in Moscow decades later.

of Bolshevik leaders in Moscow decades later.

[Meigs] After the Russian Revolution

the Soviets began expanding their reach

and incorporating territory.

They took over Georgia in 1921,

and almost immediately set about nationalizing all the industries.

By the 1950s

the officials in charge of mining in this district

recognized they had a huge transportation problem.

[Dr. Mabry] The daily trek up to the mine

was costing the company valuable production time.

By the time the miners arrived at work,

they were already exhausted

dreading the journey back home.

[Meigs] At the same time their jobs were absolutely brutal,

and miners sometimes would sleep in the mine shafts

'cause it just took too long to get back to their houses.

[narrator] A solution was needed

that would improve both the lives of the workers

and boost the mines output.

These are the rope roads of Chiatura.

A transportation network that connected

almost every corner of the town.

[Auerbach] The cable cars were the brainchild of the mine owners.

They realized if they could get workers from the town

to the mining sites easier and with more convenience,

they could convince more people to work here.

[Dvalashvili in Georgian]

[Dvalashvili in Georgian]

[translator] To be a miner did not necessarily mean

to do only hard work.

Of course, it was always hard,

but there was also a reward

with reasonable payment and insurance.

[Dr. Mabry] By 1954 there were 17 different lines operating

not just to transport people to the mines,

but civilians all around town.

Of course the mine workers traveled for free,

but everyone else had to pay.

[narrator] The ropeway system was a resounding success,

and the town flourished.

[Dvalashvili in Georgian]

[translator] During the Soviet time.

life in Chiatura was at a high level.

It was a developed town,

the factories were all working,

the sport life was active

and for any young person there were opportunities.

[Dvalashvili in Georgian]

[narrator] Soviet rule didn't just bring prosperity to the region.

[Meigs] One of the hallmarks of Soviet communism was

focus on ideology,

and children were to be raised up as true believers.

They developed a program called the Young Pioneers

that was closely modeled on the Boy Scouts.

-[Dvalashvili in Georgian] -[translator] I can say

that the fact I later became a geographer

was inspired from this building

as it was such a source of creative learning.

I want to also say the negative side of pioneerism

I want to also say the negative side of pioneerism

was that you were supposed to be obedient

to the Soviet ideology.

But this was quite normal anyway for that time

in the whole Soviet Union,

and we also were part of it.

[Dvalashvili in Georgian]

[narrator] Despite being guided by the hand

of their communist overlords,

the people of Chiatura never had it so good.

All that was about to come crashing down.

[Meigs] The economic decline was so sudden and so dramatic

that, in many cases,

the power plants would just stop working,

[narrator] In the Georgian city of Chiatura

is a relic from the Soviet era.

A unique system of cable cars

designed to transport workers from their homes

to the manganese mines in the mountains above.

[Meigs] Because it was producing such a vital material

for the Soviet Union,

Chiatura became something of a boomtown,

Chiatura became something of a boomtown,

and the workers were very highly valued

-[Dvalashvili in Georgian] -[translator] Everyone was busy and had something to do.

Each had his own mission.

It was like this 30 to 35 years ago,

but today it is a very different situation.

[people shouting]

[narrator] After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991,

Georgia declared independence.

Civil war ensued which devastated

the already unstable economy,

plunging the country further into chaos.

plunging the country further into chaos.

[Meigs] In some cases the electric power would just go off

for hours or days at a time.

It was very difficult to keep mines operated in those conditions.

The mines began to shut down,

and the people began to move away.

[translator] The people used to live in these blocks of flats

during the Soviet time.

But then when the migration process started,

the residents moved out for resettlement in the other territories.

Thus, the blocks of flats became empty.

Thus, the blocks of flats became empty.

Also, they were not stable constructions anymore,

and they were too dangerous to live in.

[narrator] Now the mines lay idle.

The rope roads of Chiatura

gradually ground to a halt.

[Dr. Mabry] During the '90s,

no one maintained or repaired the cable cars.

There were actually more pressing priorities

for the country of Georgia.

In 2019 they finally made the decision to shut down

almost all of the rusting cable cars,

almost all of the rusting cable cars,

and replaced the routes with buses.

[narrator] Today, the mines of Chiatura

are still operational,

but the industry is a pale shadow of its former self.

That hasn't stopped Giorgi staying positive

about the future of his hometown.

[Dvalashvili in Georgian]

[translator] Chiatura is my pride.

[translator] Chiatura is my pride.

It means a lot to me.

I was born here.

Tourism will save the future of this town

in the same way as the manganese ore did in the past.

Tourism is one of the main requirements

for its survival.

[narrator] In the English Channel

on the small island of Guernsey,

a terrible truth lies buried beneath the ground.

[Prof. Wawro] Guernsey is the second biggest of the five Channel Islands,

lying in the sea between Britain and France.

[Bell] It's a tranquil place with quaint villages

and a rugged coastline.

[Dr. Nusbacher] Then in this lush countryside

you see the massive entranceway

into something underground.

[narrator] The only way to discover the secret this doorway guards...

is to pass through.

[Prof. Wawro] You descend into these interminable long tunnels

just hewn out of the rock and going on forever.

[Dr. Nusbacher] As you move through the dim light,

you start coming to side rooms off the main corridor,

and you see bed frames,

you see ordinary-looking furniture.

It looks like a dormitory or a barracks or something.

[narrator] How did it come to pass

this huge complex was built by an invading foreign power

in an area of the British Empire?

[Bell] Many people might be surprised to learn

that a part of Britain was occupied by the Nazis in the Second World War.

[narrator] Paul Bourgaize is custodian of this site,

[narrator] Paul Bourgaize is custodian of this site,

and has been working to protect it

for the last four years.

He first explored the vast tunnel system as a child.

[Bourgaize] The place was very, very daunting as a little kid.

You know, damp, dark, wet. Very gloomy.

So even though you can't see a lot from ground level,

obviously when we get in here you can see how vast it is.

75,000 square feet.

75,000 square feet.

A mile and a half literally

if you walked on every chamber,

every tunnel.

[Bell] Construction on this subterranean network

started at the beginning of the Second World War.

[Prof. Wawro] It's hard to believe that at one time

there was a massive military presence there.

[narrator] The Channel Islands are closer to France,

but they have been under the protection of the British Crown

since 1066.

In the early days of World War II,

In the early days of World War II,

Britain's war cabinet made a decision

that would seal the fate of the island's people.

[Prof. Wawro] When the German's invaded France in 1940,

the British had to make a decision.

Do we defend the Channel Islands?

And Churchill decided they're indefensible.

They had no strategic purpose.

[Dr. Nusbacher] So the British government gave up the Channel Islands,

including Guernsey,

to the Germans.

[narrator] Yet Hitler was convinced

[narrator] Yet Hitler was convinced

the Allies would attempt to recapture the islands

despite being abandoned by the countries sworn to defend them.

Hitler had this idea that he had to cling to the Channel Islands,

so he embarks on this massive construction program of fortifications,

underground weapons and ammunition storage,

everything he would need to use these island bases

as a way station on his way to an invasion of England

or his outworks for his defense

of German-occupied Europe.

So, work started in 1942

and really went on for three and a half years

right through the occupation of Guernsey.

It was the largest single sort of structure built

on the Channel Islands during World War II,

so huge scale.

Originally this part of the tunnel was designed as an ammunition store

so you see effects in some of the chambers

with this asphalt to waterproof it.

You can see in the center

where the tracks would have been.

They were using a narrow-gauge railway

to move the ammunition.

to move the ammunition.

[Prof. Wawro] And the Channel Islands become the home

of what was known as Hitler's island madness.

At one point on Guernsey,

you've got 12,000 German troops on the island

which is one German soldier for every two inhabitants.

[Dr. Nusbacher] At a time when conflict was at its maximum,

what was the most heavily fortified place

on planet Earth?

It was not Moscow.

It was not Moscow.

It was not Berlin.

It was not Washington.

It was the Isle of Guernsey.

[narrator] And the price of such an ambitious building project

had a tragic human cost.

[Dr. Nusbacher] They used a combination

of highly qualified, well-paid professionals,

and volunteers...

and slaves.

[Prof. Wawro] And the slave laborers came from France, from Belgium

from Poland, from Russia

and Spain for the most part.

[Bell] They lived in various camps

scattered around the island in horrendous conditions.

Many died of malnutrition or overworking.

Some had to use their bare hands

to excavate the solid rock.

Slaves were given a simple choice...

work or starve.

work or starve.

[narrator] By 1944 the Nazi war machine's initial success had waned,

and the Allies were readying to strike back.

In anticipation of the offensive,

Hitler's forces transformed this site

into something else entirely.

[Dr. Nusbacher] They had to be prepared

for defending the islands

against a prolonged assault,

and that meant a lot of casualties.

and that meant a lot of casualties.

[narrator] In Guernsey are the remains

of a Nazi fortification

built to defend the occupied island from Allied attack.

In 1944 circumstance dictated it be repurposed

to deal with an imminent threat.

[Bell] The tide had turned in the war,

and the Allies were preparing to launch a massive offensive

and the Allies were preparing to launch a massive offensive

and regain territory from the Nazis.

They expected bloodshed and so decided

that the tunnels would better serve as a hospital.

This was the main operating theater.

You see the scrub rooms there to our right, those sinks.

And then we have our triage room at the end,

so all the treatment was happening in here.

[Bell] It was large enough to house up to 500 patients,

[Bell] It was large enough to house up to 500 patients,

and included facilities such as an X-ray room,

dispensary, laboratory.

They even had a cinema.

[narrator] The countdown to invasion had begun,

and Nazis soldiers stationed on Guernsey

were braced for the anticipated attack.

The Allies had other ideas.

[Dr. Nusbacher] So, the western Allies hit the beach in Normandy

on the 6th of June, 1944.

It's D-Day.

The largest operation of any kind probably ever.

The largest operation of any kind probably ever.

And the amphibious forces

sweep past the Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are not important

to defeating Germany.

Therefore the Channel Islands must wait to be liberated.

[Bell] But wounded soldiers injured in France were brought here,

[Bell] But wounded soldiers injured in France were brought here,

and the hospital was put to use.

[narrator] After D-Day,

the French were soon freed from their Nazi oppressors

For the Channel Islanders still under German occupation,

the consequences were grim.

Guernsey, still in the hand of the Germans,

was cut off from the rest of Europe.

[Prof. Wawro] The Germans are unable

to bring stuff in and out, including food,

and so the people are on the brink of starvation.

in those last months of World War II.

in those last months of World War II.

[narrator] On May 9th, 1945,

two days after the Germans surrender

the people of Guernsey were finally liberated.

The Nazi hospital no longer of any use

was quickly abandoned.

[Dr. Nusbacher] The war was hard everywhere,

and it was especially hard

on that little green gem of an island in the English Channel.

[narrator] It's been over 70 years

since the Nazis imposed their will on Guernsey.

And for Paul Bourgaize,

his mission is to make certain no one ever forgets.

[Bourgaize] Those people that were living through the occupation

will sadly soon be gone,

so we need to preserve these structures

as a legacy to that and the struggle that they went through

through five years of occupation.

through five years of occupation.

[narrator] Fifty miles east of Shanghai, China

the small island of Shengshan

rises boldly up out of the East China Sea

[Selwood] It's remote and mountainous,

and at first there doesn't seem to be much here.

Just the odd road snaking through the hills.

[Prof. Mitchell] As you get closer you see

[Prof. Mitchell] As you get closer you see

a village that looks like it's clinging to the cliffs.

Some of the buildings are in tatters

while others look like they're being remodeled.

It's all very strange.

[Meigs] The buildings are made of concrete.

They're one or stories.

So it's obvious that this is not some ancient village.

It's something that was built

probably within the last 70 or 80 years.

[narrator] The settlement's size suggests

a substantial population once thrived here.

[Selwood] Furniture and belongings, though decaying,

bare testament to a previous life.

[Meigs] Any time you see a place

where people used to live

and then they left,

we're always curious what drove them out.

Why did they decide to abandon what looks like

a pretty idyllic place to live?

[narrator] This village weathered one of the darkest periods

in China's history.

[Selwood] Husbands and wives turned on each other.

Children turned on their parents and teachers.

Children turned on their parents and teachers.

[narrator] But there was one change it could not survive.

-[Fu in foreign language] -[translator] This is the only road

to get to the ghost village.

There's around 400 steps.

[narrator] Fu Yuanfan was once a resident

of this now deserted community.

[Fu in Mandarin]

[Fu in Mandarin]

[translator] When I was younger there wasn't much to do.

[Fu in Mandarin]

[translator] We go to school and play after school.

[Fu in Mandarin]

[translator] Our fathers go out to sea.

Our mothers take care of housework.

Life was hard,

but in way they were simpler and happier times.

[Fu in Mandarin]

[narrator] When Fu grew up,

he followed in his father's footsteps,

and became a part of the industry

that brought wealth to this remote island.

[Fu in Mandarin]

[translator] Since I was 16 I started fishing.

[Fu in Mandarin]

[translator] On a typical day, I would get up at 3:00 a.m.

When there's a lot of fish, I would get up at 2:00 a.m.,

stay out until the sun goes down,

then go home.

[Prof. Mitchell] China is the world-biggest fishing nation,

and this village was all at the heart of it.

[narrator] This is Houtouwan,

a once affluent settlement

built on the ocean's generous bounty.

built on the ocean's generous bounty.

[Fu in Mandarin]

[translator] This was my house.

There were four of us.

[Fu in Mandarin]

[translator] It was me, my youngest sister

and my parents who lived here.

My room was on the second floor.

Every morning I look out of the window

and check if there's any wind,

check out the weather.

If the weather's bad, I can sleep in.

I know I won't go out to the sea to fish.

I know I won't go out to the sea to fish.

If there's no wind, I have to get up immediately.

[Meigs] At its peak the village probably was home

to 2,000 to 3,000 people,

and almost everyone there was there because of the fishing.

[Prof. Mitchell] People all over China knew about its reputation,

and they came here to settle.

[Selwood] And you can just imagine how alive it must once have been

with fishing boats bobbing up and down.

[narrator] Houtouwan was riding high

[narrator] Houtouwan was riding high

and the sea was providing a good living for all.

But a storm was brewing on mainland China

that threatened to destroy it.

[Selwood] It was a brutal time

of mass incarceration and murder.

[narrator] On Shengshan Island is a deserted village.

At one time it was the pride

of a thriving Chinese fishing industry.

In 1966 a deadly tide swept in.

The cultural revolution was launched under the direction

of the Chinese Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong.

[Prof. Mitchell] And what Mao Zedong really

[Prof. Mitchell] And what Mao Zedong really

wanted to do, wanted to accomplish,

was to rout out people considered bourgeois infiltrators.

[Meigs] You had students denouncing their professors,

sometimes beating them to death.

You had husbands and wives denouncing each other.

You had children turning against their parents.

[narrator] Houtouwan, as an affluent community

of entrepreneurial fishermen,

did not completely escape

the cultural revolution's destructive reach.

the cultural revolution's destructive reach.

[Meigs] One facet of Chinese communism is

deep distrust of individualism.

So farms were collectivized.

Raising your own plot of tomatoes or rice was really discouraged.

By the same token, the Chinese government tried

to reorganize the way the fishing business worked.

And as happened in so many other parts of the economy,

that ultimately made the whole process much less efficient.

[narrator] The fate of this successful village hung in the balance.

[Prof. Mitchell] The collectives really didn't work.

In fact, they led to a lot of infighting among the people.

[Meigs] Why go out and fish for 18 hours

if your share is going to be the same as your neighbor

who only went out and fished for eight hours.

[narrator] But as Houtouwan's fishing community grappled

with the changes forced upon their industry,

with the changes forced upon their industry,

the architect of the cultural revolution died.

And with Mao's death came fresh opportunity.

[Meigs] As the cultural revolution faded,

so did some of these government controls

over how different fishermen could operate.

[Prof. Mitchell] Ironically, Mao wanted to strengthen communism

and what it led to was a strengthening of capitalism.

-[Fu in Mandarin] -[translator] When I was 23 years old,

Houtouwan was liberated.

[Fu in Mandarin]

[translator] After two years I got married.

I worked even harder to catch bigger fish.

My motivation was to buy a house.

[Fu in Mandarin]

[Meigs] Some of the people in Houtouwan got

more prosperous than others,

and for a time the village did very well.

[narrator] Tragically, the newly found freedoms had

[narrator] Tragically, the newly found freedoms had

an unforeseen consequence.

[Selwood] As fishing technology began to advance,

the stocks of fish in the East China Sea

began rapidly to decline,

and the prosperity of the people,

which was built on fishing,

gradually slipped away.

[Prof. Mitchell] Big trawler ships came in with advanced sonar,

and in this little harbor,

these tiny fishing boats simply could not compete.

[Fu in Mandarin]

[translator] We didn't deplete the fish.

[Fu in Mandarin]

[Fu in Mandarin]

[translator] It was radar netting

and Wenzhou people's trawl netting

that caused damage to the fish community.

[Fu in Mandarin]

[translator] The way we catch it,

it doesn't harm the system that much.

[Fu in Mandarin]

[narrator] In the 1990s the government in Beijing

finally decided to act.

[Prof. Mitchell] China imposed seasonal moratoriums

to protect fish stocks which were becoming depleted.

to protect fish stocks which were becoming depleted.

But it really was too little too late.

-[Fu in Mandarin] -[translator] We realized our children and grandchildren

won't get rich here.

They won't have any prospects,

so we decided to move out.

Wherever there's a future, we move there

[Selwood] By 1994 almost everybody had left,

and only a handful of villagers remain today.

[Prof. Mitchell] They renamed the village Wurencun

which means "no-person village."

[narrator] After the chaos of the Mao era,

China transformed into an economic powerhouse,

second only to the United States.

Fu embraces the opportunities the modern country provides

despite being forced to leave his old life behind.

-[Fu in Mandarin] -[translator] Our standard of living is

-[Fu in Mandarin] -[translator] Our standard of living is

so much better now.

[Fu in Mandarin]

[translator] We didn't want to catch fish anymore.

It's a tough business. It's extremely tough.

[Fu in Mandarin]

[translator] So we tell our kids,

"You must study. That's the only way to change your fate."