Rubble from demolished buildings surrounds the Mumian Garden residential complex on one of the Haihua Islands, a massive real estate project in South China’s Hainan province that consists of three artificial islands reclaimed from the sea. Photo: Xing Ran

The Haihua Islands are located in the city of Danzhou. Haihua Island No. 1, as seen in May 2019, is home to a large commercial complex, while the No. 2 (right) and No. 3 islands are mainly residential. Photo: Xing Ran

Neighbors living in a residential community on Haihua Island No. 2 chat together on a pleasant day on the island province, whose warm climate has long attracted people to live there. Photo: Xing Ran

Most of the commercial space on the ground floor of Mumian Garden, which is on Haihua Island No. 3, remains available to rent. Photo: Xing Ran

On the evening of May 10, only a handful of apartments in a residential complex on Haihua Island No. 2 had their lights on — a sign of low occupancy. The occupancy rate on the island can exceed 60% in the winter months and during the Spring Festival. But it falls drastically in the summer. Photo: Xing Ran

A sign outside the original sales office for the Haihua Islands project stands in disrepair on a recent day in May. Photo: Xing Ran

A model of the Haihua Islands project still sits in the sales office. It took two years to create the islands by reclaiming about 2,000 acres of land from the sea. Photo: Xing Ran

The mall on Haihua Island No. 1 never opened and its gate has been replaced by a wooden board. Photo: Xing Ran

In 2022, the government confiscated 39 unfinished buildings of a property development on Haihua Island No. 2 after they were determined to be illegally constructed. Photo: Xing Ran

A theme park on Haihua Island No. 1 called Children’s World never opened to the public. Photo: Xing Ran

Signs outside the fenced off entrance to the theme park warn visitors against going in due to construction. Photo: Xing Ran

An apartment owner at Mumian Garden shows how a load-bearing wall in her building’s basement has started to crumble. Photo: Xing Ran

Water fills an elevator shaft in one of Mumian Garden’s unfinished buildings. Photo: Xing Ran

Apartment owners of Mumian Garden inspect the seawall around the development. Photo: Xing Ran