AP
Debby Wu
Houtong used to be one of Taiwan’s most important coal extraction sites, up until the 1970s. Then, oil and electricity took the place of coal when Taiwan’s railroads electrified and oil grew as a power source. The town’s younger residents left for better opportunities elsewhere and the population dwindled from around six thousand inhabitants to a couple of hundred, who struggled to survive.
But their fortunes changed in 2008, when a cat lover who goes by the name “Palin88” organized a series of cat photography events in the mountain town to photograph the town’s many stray cats. He and his friends posted the photos online, and got an overwhelming response from fellow feline enthusiasts.
As they shared the photos on forums and social media sites, Houtong welcomed more and more tourists eager to photograph the cats themselves, or simply watch them roaming through the town. Nowadays, Houtong is known as the Cat Village, or Taiwan’s Cat Mecca.
The hundreds of stray cats who call Houtong their home attract thousands of Taiwanese and international visitors every week, and the locals are cashing out on their popularity. Souvenir shops selling everything from cat-themed mobile dangles to cat-imprinted purses, and food-stalls offering cat-shaped snacks have proven very profitable since Houtong’s feline-induced rebirth. Acknowledging their pivotal role in the miraculous turnaround, villagers have grown very fond of the cats, and are doing everything they can to keep them safe and healthy.
A team of volunteers provides free veterinary care and food, and the community has even set up comfortable cat houses for the furry stars to nap in. Building on the town’s reputation as a cat village, locals have placed a set of cat ears at one end of Houtong and a big tail at the other, and the old town bridge now features an elevated catwalk, allowing the cats to come down from the village to the train station and greet visitors as soon as they set foot off the train.
Debby Wu
Houtong used to be one of Taiwan’s most important coal extraction sites, up until the 1970s. Then, oil and electricity took the place of coal when Taiwan’s railroads electrified and oil grew as a power source. The town’s younger residents left for better opportunities elsewhere and the population dwindled from around six thousand inhabitants to a couple of hundred, who struggled to survive.
But their fortunes changed in 2008, when a cat lover who goes by the name “Palin88” organized a series of cat photography events in the mountain town to photograph the town’s many stray cats. He and his friends posted the photos online, and got an overwhelming response from fellow feline enthusiasts.
As they shared the photos on forums and social media sites, Houtong welcomed more and more tourists eager to photograph the cats themselves, or simply watch them roaming through the town. Nowadays, Houtong is known as the Cat Village, or Taiwan’s Cat Mecca.
The hundreds of stray cats who call Houtong their home attract thousands of Taiwanese and international visitors every week, and the locals are cashing out on their popularity. Souvenir shops selling everything from cat-themed mobile dangles to cat-imprinted purses, and food-stalls offering cat-shaped snacks have proven very profitable since Houtong’s feline-induced rebirth. Acknowledging their pivotal role in the miraculous turnaround, villagers have grown very fond of the cats, and are doing everything they can to keep them safe and healthy.
A team of volunteers provides free veterinary care and food, and the community has even set up comfortable cat houses for the furry stars to nap in. Building on the town’s reputation as a cat village, locals have placed a set of cat ears at one end of Houtong and a big tail at the other, and the old town bridge now features an elevated catwalk, allowing the cats to come down from the village to the train station and greet visitors as soon as they set foot off the train.
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