Houtong’s feline residents knead new life into an old mining village.
Some visit Houtong in New Taipei City to glimpse Taiwan’s mining heritage at the Coal Mine Ecological Park. Many more, however, are drawn by the feline residents of the small village in mountainous Ruifang District.
When it was Taiwan’s largest coal supplier, Houtong had a population of over 6,000. The number declined rapidly following the mine’s closure in 1990, and the village became nothing more than a name on the Pingxi railway branch line, which was built in 1920 to transport coal.
Although the number of human inhabitants decreased, the number of feral felines grew, and around 2009 photographer Jian Pei-ling (簡佩玲) started to share images of Houtong’s cats on her blog and in books. As these went viral, visitors started to arrive, and by 2013 Houtong was recognized by CNN as one of the world’s top six cat-watching spots, with kitty-loving visitors from home and abroad increasing from a few hundred to thousands.
To better care for its feline residents, the city government’s Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office pounced on the opportunity to open the Houtong Cat Public Office, providing sterilization, medical and adoption services.
The cat population of Houtong is between 150 and 200, while their human caregivers number 100. The village is full of charisma, offering everything cat-themed from cafes and souvenir shops to murals and street installations. The little village has enjoyed a revival thanks to its furry inhabitants, with visitor numbers proving time spent with a cat is never wasted.
—by Jim Hwang
It is naptime at Houtong Station on Pingxi branch line, constructed in 1920 to transport coal.
The Houtong Cat Public Office provides sterilization, medical and adoption services for resident cats.
The village’s cat population is estimated to be around 150 to 200.
Cat murals decorate walls around the village.
Grassy open spaces offer stalking grounds for the cats to exercise and play in.