Hidden in the mountains of northern Taiwan, there is a village that left behind decades of mining exploitation to surrender to the love of cats: Houtong.
This small town, located about 40 minutes by train from Taipei, it is inhabited by around 200 stray catswhich share space with restaurants, cafes, shops and monuments dedicated to these felines.
The majority are more than accustomed to the presence of humans and allow themselves to be petted and fed, although authorities insist on the importance of approaching them with caution, applying rigorous hand hygiene and respecting their “personal” space.
Almost all visitors strictly comply with these recommendations and observe the animals from a distance, except in those cases in which the cats, eager for affection and physical contact, they rub their bodies on peoplecreating a festival of laughter and purrs.
mining past
A pleasant atmosphere that has not always accompanied this town: Houtong (in Mandarin, “monkey cave”) became relevant a century ago, in the midst of the Japanese occupation, due to the numerous coal reserves hidden under its floors.
Attracted by employment opportunities, Hundreds of people moved to the area to work in the minewhere more than half of the coal produced annually by Taiwan was extracted.
However, the Coal industry collapsed in the 90s and the area went into decline: young people migrated to the cities and Houtong lost its appeal, passing from 6,000 residents in its heyday to just over 100.
Photos, cats and a lot of fame
The solution to the crisis came in the least expected way. In 2008, a Taiwanese photographer visited the village and was fascinated by the residents’ efforts to take care of stray cats that populated the area.
His photographs began to circulate on the Internet and Houtong became pilgrimage site for cat lovers, of all kinds of cats: white, black, gray or brown; shy, sociable, energetic or lazy. There are as many cats in the town as there are types of personalities.
The feline atmosphere is felt as soon as you leave the train station. No matter where you look there are cats everywherewhether sleeping on a ledge, lazing in the grass or strolling the streets in search of food or cuddles.
Los local merchants They are also no slouch in terms of cat spirit. Neither short nor lazy, they wear headbands with cat ears, play electronic music with meows and sell all kinds of objects related to these animals.
Although not everything is tourism, far from it. The town has a volunteer service that is responsible for sterilize, care and promote adoption of the cats, so that many of them, despite living on the street, look healthy.
These volunteers also collaborate with neighbors to prevent abuses from occurring, since in recent years there have been cases of people taking advantage of the growing popularity of Houtong to abandon their pets there or steal cats, according to information from local media.
In any case, and despite the challenges of maintaining such a feline population in such a small place, today the residents of Houtong enjoy a second chance thanks to the incombustible love for these animals.
Javier Castro Bugarín/EFE