In this article, discover five essential locations selected from our Urbex China Map, which features over 500 abandoned places across China, carefully documented for unique and immersive explorations.

Abandoned hotels in China carry a particular atmosphere that sets them apart from other urbex sites. Built for comfort and occupied by strangers passing through, they retain an intimate strangeness when empty — numbered corridors leading nowhere, ballrooms open to the sky, personal objects left behind in rooms that were never checked out of. China's property crisis has produced a wave of derelict hospitality projects across the country, each one a different story of ambition, failure, and decay.

Why China Is One of the Best Destinations for Abandoned Hotel Urbex

China's hospitality sector expanded at extraordinary speed between 1990 and 2015, with thousands of hotels and resorts built far ahead of demand. The property crisis, changing tourism patterns, and the collapse of several major developers have since left dozens of these buildings empty — from grand resort complexes in scenic areas to urban hotels frozen mid-renovation in city centres.

📍 All locations below are referenced on our Urbex China Map — GPS coordinates, access notes, condition ratings, and explorer reports included.

1. Songjiang Quarry – The World's First Underground Hotel, Shanghai (Known Location)

Not a typical abandoned hotel — but the most extraordinary hospitality story in China. The Shimao Wonderland InterContinental in Shanghai's Songjiang District was built inside an abandoned stone quarry that had been excavated since the 1950s and left empty since 2000. The quarry pit — 100 metres deep, 240 metres long — became the shell of the world's first underground five-star hotel, with 18 floors, 16 of them subterranean and two fully underwater.

What makes it relevant to urbex: the quarry itself sat abandoned for over a decade before the project broke ground in 2013. Its transformation from derelict pit to architectural landmark, dubbed an "Architecture Wonder of the World" by National Geographic, is one of the most remarkable stories of industrial abandonment and reinvention in China.

👉 Cliff faces dropping 80 metres into water, a glass waterfall facade, and underwater rooms facing a 10-metre aquarium — the most visually dramatic former abandoned site in China.

👉 Story: Abandoned quarry since the year 2000. Shimao Group purchased the land in 2006; construction began in 2013 after years of delays. Opened in November 2018 at a cost of $555 million.

🔗 More on the Quarry Hotel: Atlas Obscura – Shimao Wonderland Intercontinental

2. The Medieval Castle Hotel – Shanghai Outskirts (Known Location)

One of the most photographed abandoned buildings in China in 2025. This deserted hotel on the outskirts of Shanghai was built to resemble a prefabricated medieval castle — turrets, carved facades, and grand corridors styled after a European chateau. When urban explorer Xu Pengcheng and his crew arrived for a photoshoot in May 2025, they found it frozen in time: a mahjong table, laundry sheets, piles of dinner plates, and props from previous photoshoots scattered across the floors. On one ballroom wall, "Long Live Chairman Mao" had been spray-painted by a previous visitor.

👉 Gothic corridors, abandoned banquet halls with chandelier fittings still hanging, guest rooms with personal effects left mid-stay, and rooftop views over the Shanghai sprawl.

👉 Story: Financial difficulties halted operations mid-project. The building has remained suspended ever since — too costly to restore, too photogenic to demolish. It has become a pilgrimage site for Shanghai's urbex community.

🔗 More on China's abandoned buildings: AFP / France24 – China's Abandoned Buildings Draw Urban Explorers

3. The Abandoned Mountain Resort – Sichuan Province (Exclusive on our Map)

A large derelict resort complex in the mountains of Sichuan, built during the domestic tourism boom of the 2000s and abandoned as demand failed to materialise.

👉 Empty reception halls with cracked marble floors, guest wings open to the mountain mist, a swimming pool still filled with stagnant water, and views over forested peaks that no paying guest ever woke up to.

👉 Story: Built on the assumption that domestic tourism would keep growing indefinitely, the resort was completed but never fully occupied. Maintenance costs exceeded revenue within two years and operations ceased.

📍 Exact location available on our Urbex China Map.

4. The Abandoned Urban Hotel – Tianjin City Centre (Exclusive on our Map)

A mid-range hotel in central Tianjin, frozen mid-renovation when developer financing collapsed — corridors half-stripped, rooms in different stages of dismantlement, the lobby still bearing the signage of its former brand.

👉 The particular unease of a hotel stripped of its purpose — stripped wallpaper revealing layers of previous décor, guest lifts frozen between floors, and a dining room still set for a breakfast that was never served.

👉 Story: Tianjin's property crisis left dozens of commercial properties frozen mid-cycle. This hotel was caught between a renovation project and a financing collapse, leaving it in a permanent state of half-completion.

📍 Exact location available on our Urbex China Map.

5. The Abandoned Seaside Resort – Guangdong Coast (Exclusive on our Map)

A derelict beach resort on the Guangdong coastline, built to serve the Pearl River Delta's growing leisure class and abandoned when the tourism market shifted.

👉 Crumbling seafront villas with ocean views, a tiled pool deck colonised by subtropical weeds, and guest bungalows still furnished — sun loungers, mosquito nets, and welcome packs left exactly in place.

👉 Story: Coastal resort development along Guangdong was heavily speculative throughout the 2000s. Changing tastes, rising competition, and the collapse of the domestic group tourism market left many of these complexes empty within a decade of opening.

📍 Exact location available on our Urbex China Map.

Urbex China – Safety & Legal Reminder

Urban exploration in China carries specific risks. Trespassing is illegal, and security has increased significantly around abandoned structures in major cities. Always:

• Research each site thoroughly before visiting
• Explore with at least one other person
• Wear protective gear — mask, gloves, and sturdy boots
• Never force access or cause damage to any structure
• Respect the spaces and leave no trace

The urbex code applies everywhere: "Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints."

❓ FAQ – Abandoned Hotels Urbex China

What is the most famous abandoned hotel in China?
The Medieval Castle Hotel on the outskirts of Shanghai is currently the most photographed — it went viral in July 2025 after an AFP photo essay. For a more architecturally spectacular experience, the former quarry site of the Shimao Wonderland InterContinental in Shanghai's Songjiang District is unmatched.

Are abandoned hotels in China safe to explore?
Derelict hotels carry risks including unstable floors, falling fixtures, and broken glass. Always wear protective gear, never go alone, and avoid any building showing signs of active structural collapse. Research access conditions before each visit.

Why are there so many abandoned hotels in China?
China's hospitality sector expanded far faster than demand during the 2000s and 2010s. Combined with a severe property sector crisis since 2021, dozens of hotel projects have been left empty — completed but never opened, or operating briefly before financial failure forced closure.

🎯 Conclusion

China's abandoned hotels offer some of the most atmospherically rich experiences in urbex China — from a medieval castle frozen with its last guests' belongings to mountain resorts swallowed by mist and a former quarry that became one of the most striking architectural sites in the world. Every empty corridor tells a story of hospitality that never quite arrived.

Thanks to our Urbex China Map, you get access to over 500 unique locations for a safe and immersive exploration experience — with GPS coordinates, access ratings, photos, and explorer reports for every spot.

🗺️ Explore the full Urbex China Map →