Do you like cats? For those who are keen on smoking cats, do they like this place very much? Houdong village in Xinbei City, Taiwan used to be a "sleeping village", but it was selected as one of the "top six cat attractions in the world" by CNN because it gathered hundreds of wild cats to regain its popularity. CNN said it was these lovely stray cats that 'saved' the village.
At the beginning of last century, Houdong was the largest and most advanced coal mining site in Taiwan, with more than 6000 residents and workers. The mine was abandoned in 1990. Since then, young residents have to go out to work. As a result, there are only more than 100 residents left.
In 2010, a photographer blogged about stray cats, a special product he found in Houdong, which became famous and local residents also got income from tourism. Many stray cats are given cute nicknames and are taken care of by villagers and volunteers. In addition to many theme shops and cafes, the local government also built Houdong mining history museum, opened cat information station and held cat Lantern Festival. At present, Houdong attracts about 1 million tourists every year.
However, more and more problems are beginning to appear in the monkey cave of cat paradise. According to CNN, Houdong has become a major site for abandoning pet cats. In addition, tourists feed and have intimate contact with cats, and some people are worried about the health of stray cats. The animal protection department of Xinbei city has cooperated with local people to vaccinate cats and conduct regular inspection. Signs are also erected around the monkey cave to advise tourists how to get along with cats.