Ocean Flower Island: Exploring China's Abandoned $25 Billion Artificial Island
I Visited China’s $25 Billion Man-Made Island You've Never Heard Of
In 2020, Ocean Flower Island opened as the world’s largest artificial island in southern China. The cost? A mere 25 billion US dollars.
Originally planned as an international tourism hub to boost Hainan's appeal for global travelers, Ocean Flower Island consists of three independent islands, multiple hotels and entertainment venues, as well as a water park and a huge theme park. The latter, however, never opened its gates, as the island's development company, Evergrande, filed for bankruptcy in 2023.
When visiting Ocean Flower Island (also known as Haihua / Haihuadao Island), I noticed that not only had the theme park never opened, but large areas of the world’s largest man-made island now sit unfinished or abandoned.
This is part 1 of my visit to Ocean Flower Island.
