The Ryokans of the Mountains

In the remote mountains of Japan, ancient hot spring ryokans still pulsate with miraculous waters but lie shrouded in the silence of degradation. My adventure companion, Xing Yue, and I discovered them by chance while searching for a place to camp in our tent, turning a fleeting glance into an urban exploration. The Chance Discovery […]

February 12, 2026
The club of lost desire

Once upon a time, for just ¥3,000, lust was accessible to anyone who crossed the threshold of this abandoned strip club in the heart of Japan. Today, amid its peeling walls and faded neon lights, only a psychedelic echo of the 1970s remains: a time capsule filled with retro relics, like the remains of a […]

February 7, 2026
The State Guest Mansions

A few kilometres from Shenyang, in northeastern China, lies an abandoned complex that seems to come from another era. The project was conceived during the real estate boom of 2010, when the construction rush transformed vast areas of the country into permanent construction sites. In Shenyang, the giant Greenland Group purchased a large tract of […]

January 29, 2026
The Kingdom of Cats

I have explored many crazy places, but nothing could have prepared me for this. In China, not far from the centre of Beijing, there is an abandoned shopping mall ruled by a veritable feline monarchy. A place suspended between silence and surrealism, where cats seem to have taken control of the territory with the calmness […]

January 25, 2026
The Nine Dragons of Jiulongshan

Walking along a path overgrown with waist-high weeds, with the sun filtering through the low clouds over the hills of Zhejiang, I found myself face-to-face with them: nine reinforced concrete colossi, giant dragons twisting on the slopes as if the myth had taken shape in the 20th century. We are in Jiulongshan Scenic Area, near […]

January 16, 2026
The city of frogs

In the forest of steel and concrete that is Shanghai, urban fairy tales come to life at sunset. Location Qingpu Dongdu Frog City is situated a short distance from Dianshan Lake Avenue Station, Metro Line 17, in the heart of Shanghai’s Qingpu District. Night-time urban exploration I was staying with an artist from Zhujiajiao when, […]

January 13, 2026
Villa Gozzadini

Villa Gozzadini was built in the 16th century by the Bolognese senatorial family of the same name. The last descendant of the family was Count Giovanni Gozzadini, a passionate archaeologist who discovered the Villanovan civilisation. The interior of the villa is embellished with 18th-century frescoes and paintings. Sixteenth-century origins and the Gozzadini family The origins […]

January 4, 2026
Medelana Castle

Medelana Castle, in the hills of Bologna, emerges as an abandoned jewel shrouded in fog and mystery, ready to be rediscovered by urbex enthusiasts. Location and Ancient Origins Hidden in the hamlet of Medelana, in the municipality of Marzabotto and just 30 minutes from Bologna, this manor house stands at 668 meters above sea level […]

January 2, 2026
Purgatory

Hidden among the woods of the Bolognese Apennines, a villa with frescoed ceilings and Latin-scripted walls stays abandoned, its rooms still echoing of those who once came here in search of serenity and reflection. The signs of time Light filters through the open windows onto 1970s sofas, light curtains, and wall paintings whose colors are […]

December 28, 2025
MV Maa – Abandoned Shipwreck

Some wrecks disappear quickly, devoured by the sea or dismantled far from public view. And then there are those that, against all odds, remain, become symbols, and change the face of the places where they are found. This is the case of the MV Maa, a Bangladeshi cargo ship that has been stranded on Tenneti […]

September 24, 2025