If you are a cat lover then you must pay a visit to this quaint little village nestled at the foothills of Northern Taiwan. Along the Keelung River, is Houtong which has feline residents more! Rightly called the cat village, it has more than 100 cats, lounging, strolling in every lane. The mountain town was once a popular coal mining spot. The coal industry attracted more workers to the area, so much so that it was producing the highest amount of coal in Taiwan. Houtong actually translates to “monkey cave” but now cats are the maximum residents here.

By the 1990s, when the coal industry saw a decline, people started moving out. Better opportunities outside took people away from Houtong and the town literally died. The population from 900 households decreased to just about a 100 people. A local woman named Peggy Chien started taking care of the stray cats in the town, mostly the abandoned ones. She had likeminded volunteers to join her. Chien started posting about her efforts online, which attracted more people to visit and volunteer. And within two years, the town was reinvented as a complete cat village!

Now more than 200 cats live in Houtong and this has even given a boost to the tourism industry in the area. So, there are shops, new cafes, restaurants which cater to the growing tourists. In fact, cat food shops are also opened up in some parts, although some villagers don’t encourage feeding so much. But now the town in booming or rather mewing! The cats naturally love all the attention they get from the tourists. Black, white, grey, brown or ginger, fat, fluffy or skinny, all kinds of cats roam around, making it a paradise for cat lovers.

There's cat in your coffee too!

Cats, cats everywhere!

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Cats make decorations prettier!

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How to get to Houtong:

The easiest way is to take a train from Taipei. It is an hour-long train journey to Ruifang Station.

From Ruifang, take a bus to Houtong town.

Since cats have got the makeover to Houtong, everything in the town is cat themed. There are sculptures and murals, selfie points with cars decorations. The houses in here are also decorated with cat pictures. These cats are helping to control the rat population in Houtong. And one need not worry about the diseases or ill-effects. A small volunteer team of veterinary doctors take care of these cats and ensure they stay healthy! So cat-lovers are you planning her a trip already? Your paradise or should we say purr-dise exists!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 11, 2018 10:53 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).