China News Service Taipei, October 6th Title: In Taiwan, "Everything can be a cat"
China News Service reporters An Yingzhao and Chen Xiaoyuan
The Eslite Bookstore in Taipei this autumn seems to be occupied by "cat people". Looking up at the bestseller list in the humanities, three of the top ten are occupied by the "If History Is a Group of Cats" series; looking down at the books in the readers' hands, "Cat Books" such as "The Day Surrounded by Cats" and "Cat Behavior Illustrated" are among the top ten. "It's everywhere. Walking on the streets, one can’t help but sigh: In Taiwan, “everything can be meowed”!
From the "3D Cat" painted viewing wall at Taipei Songshan Airport , to the "Take A Cat Away" Internet celebrity cafe in Kaohsiung city center, to the "World Famous Painting·Comprehensive Catization" that is popular across Taiwan "Exhibition, cat elements have become Taiwan's popular culture.
Recently, the cats in Kaohsiung’s creative restaurant “Café × House Brunch” attracted customers to take photos. From the "3D Cat" painted viewing wall at Taipei Songshan Airport, to the "Take A Cat Away" Internet celebrity cafe in downtown Kaohsiung, to the "World Famous Paintings·Comprehensive Catization" exhibition that is popular across Taiwan, cat elements It has become a popular culture in Taiwan. Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Yuan
"Cats themselves are relatively quiet, lazy, and very healing, so they are very suitable for appearing in places with cultural and creative industries," Kaohsiung young entrepreneur Zhan Zongyi recently told a China News Service reporter.
Because he likes cats and coffee, Zhan Zongyi decided to run a store that can enjoy both five years ago. Today, this creative brunch restaurant called "Café Become a "star cat" on social media.
Recently, the creative restaurant "Café × House Brunch" in Kaohsiung is full of cat elements. From the "3D Cat" painted viewing wall at Taipei Songshan Airport, to the "Take A Cat Away" Internet celebrity cafe in downtown Kaohsiung, to the "World Famous Paintings·Comprehensive Catization" exhibition that is popular across Taiwan, cat elements It has become a popular culture in Taiwan. Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Yuan
Less than a kilometer away, another coffee shop, "Take A Cat Away", which has only been open for three years, is also very popular. Floor-to-ceiling windows, marble countertops, and a well-proportioned "cat room"... the literary and fresh style makes this store particularly conspicuous on the street corner in downtown Kaohsiung. The owners of
are a young couple. The husband, Wang Yuhan, told reporters that he is an interior designer. Because he and his wife had adopted too many stray cats and had no place to place them, they simply rented a store next to the studio and carefully designed it to be a space for cats and cat lovers. home.
Wang Yuhan designed a set of "sky walks" that spiral upwards in the store. The six cats in the store often "walk catwalks" on the wooden walks two to three meters high. The shutter sound of customers taking photos is like a real star walking on the catwalk.
Both stores have exquisite cat houses at their entrances to provide shelter and food for stray cats who have nowhere to stay on rainy days. There are cat claw-shaped ice cubes, cat whisker-shaped mug background walls, cartoon cat dolls... The large number of cultural and creative designs in the two stores will inevitably give people the feeling that "people are passers-by, and cats are the owners."
Recently, Zhan Zongyi, owner of the creative restaurant "Café × House Brunch" in Kaohsiung, introduced the cat nest in the store. From the "3D Cat" painted viewing wall at Taipei Songshan Airport, to the "Take A Cat Away" Internet celebrity cafe in downtown Kaohsiung, to the "World Famous Paintings·Comprehensive Catization" exhibition that is popular across Taiwan, cat elements It has become a popular culture in Taiwan. Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Yuan
When talking about the rise of cat culture in Taiwan, the two shop owners invariably mentioned a name that sounded puzzling at first—Houtong. In the past decade, Houtong Station in Ruifang District, New Taipei City has become famous for its nearby "Cat Village". Outsiders will inevitably wonder: If it is a "monkey" cave, why is it a "cat" village?
In fact, initially there were many monkeys living in groups on the nearby mountains, hence the name "Houtong". During the Japanese occupation, Houtong became prosperous due to the discovery of large amounts of coal resources. Until the 1990s, when the resources were almost exhausted, the mining industry declined, and miners were left empty. The nearby mountain villages, houses, and ancient streets became a paradise for stray cats.
In 2009, Ruifang Town planned Cat Village as a tourist attraction.In 2013, Houtong Cat Village was rated as a "world-class cat viewing attraction" by CNN, and has since become a place where cat lovers from all over the world have come to visit.
In 2009, two young Taiwanese people with the online names Zhiming and Civet met and adopted a Mix cat in Yangmingshan, Taipei, and later named it "Huang Ama". Since then, the two have successively adopted 6 stray cats to form a "harem" for "Huang Ama", and uploaded videos and pictures on major social platforms under the name "Huang Ama's Harem Life".
Recently, the cats in Kaohsiung’s “Take A Cat To Go” cafe were quite relaxed. From the "3D Cat" painted viewing wall at Taipei Songshan Airport, to the "Take A Cat Away" Internet celebrity cafe in downtown Kaohsiung, to the "World Famous Paintings·Comprehensive Catization" exhibition that is popular across Taiwan, cat elements It has become a popular culture in Taiwan. Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Yuan
Today, "Huang Ama" has more than 1.34 million fans on Facebook and 930,000 fans on Weibo and respectively, becoming the "cat star brother" highly respected by cat lovers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Interestingly, two successful young "cat culture" entrepreneurs still call themselves "minions" today, arousing the empathy of tens of millions of "cat slaves" on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
According to Taiwan's "United Daily News", the number of domestic cats in Taiwan increased by 143% from 2013 to 2017, and some universities have successively opened courses on "raising furry children". Relevant Taiwanese agencies claim that business opportunities in Taiwan’s pet market have reached NT$50 billion.
It is worth noting that cross-strait exchanges around "cat culture" are also becoming increasingly heated. Mainland cartoonist Fei Zhi created a series of animation videos called "If History Were a Group of Cats" based on the Twenty-Four Histories. It attracted a large number of viewers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait as soon as it went online. The three books in this series were published in Taiwan in September last year and are still selling well.
Wang Yuhan said that he goes to the mainland at least once a year. In addition to seeing the cityscape and development of the mainland, he also seeks out like-minded "cat lovers" to exchange experiences on raising cats. Zhan Zongyi also said frankly, "If I have the opportunity in the future, of course I hope to open a store in mainland China." (End)
