Taiwan’s Houtong Cat Village

Houtong Cat Village in Taiwan is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country.Moody Man/Flickr There are about 286 cats living in Houtong, Taiwan.Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images Before it became a cat village, Houtong was a thriving mining town during the early 20th century. That changed after the mine closed in 1990.kaurjmeb/Flickr Houtong used to be home to 6,000 residents. Now, there are barely 100 people living in the town. rahen z/Flickr The village, a 40-minute train ride from the capital Taipei, attracts nearly one million visitors every year. Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images kaurjmeb/Flickr As the town's human population declined, its cat population steadily rose. Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images The village's large cat population became known in 2008 when blogger Jian Peiling began sharing photos of the town's cats online. Wikimedia Commons Getty Images Houtong's cats recieve constant care from locals and government officials, who have rebranded the town as a "cat village" to increase its popularity.kaurjmeb/Flickr Houtong features cat-themed shops and eateries, a pedestrian "cat bridge," and an educational center about cats. Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images Sadly, the town has reportedly become a dumping ground for unwanted cats. Anyone who is caught abandoning their cat inside Houtong is subject to a fine of $5,000.kaurjmeb/Flickr Discover Houtong View Gallery

A humble village in Taiwan managed to become a go-to tourist destination with just a little rebranding — and showing off its massive population of feral cats. As of 2019, there were an estimated 286 cats living in the village of Houtong.

In the 1920s, Houtong was a thriving coal-mining town, which was then under Japanese colonial rule. It was home to 6,000 residents and workers. But the community began to shrink after the mine was shut down in 1990.

As residents began to move away in search of better jobs, Houtong's human population shrank to about 100 residents. The number of stray cats that inhabited the town, meanwhile, grew until it was overrun.

In 2008, a local blogger and cat person named Jian Peiling began snapping photographs of the village's growing feline population. She also coordinated with volunteers to help care for the cats and make sure that they were properly vaccinated.

News of the curious cat village spread online and it became a tourist attraction now known as Houtong Cat Village.

The cats of Houtong are cared for by villagers with help from donations and volunteers.

The Taiwanese government rebranded the town as a cat lover's paradise and retrofitted many of the city's services. They built an award-winning pedestrian "cat bridge" as well as an educational center that features elevated cat walkways.

Houtong, which is only a 40-minute train ride away from the country's capital Taipei, is now full of cat-themed shops and restaurants. In 2010, the village attracted about 500 annual visitors. That number rose to nearly one million annual visitors in just six years.

While the Houtong Cat Village has become a wonderful home for cats, reports suggest that the town has inadvertently become a dumping ground for pet owners, too. Zhan Biyun, a 65-year-old resident who has been caring for the town's cats over the years, adopted two cats of her own. She found them as kittens abandoned by a cliff near her house.

"There are people who adopt cats without thinking seriously about it, and abandon them as soon as they don't want them anymore," Zhan said. Volunteers said that the majority of original cat occupants had been neutered, so any kittens likely came from outside the village.

The local government has enacted a fine of $5,119 for anyone who abandons their cat inside the town. Hopefully, such policies combined with increased educational efforts will prevent people from acting irresponsibly.

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