Houtong, Town of Cats

On our last Sunday in Taiwan, some of the CYCU students decided to take us to the other side of the island to light lanterns and do some sightseeing in a more rural part of Taiwan. I had wanted to see the village of Houtong, which is known for its many feral-but-friendly cats :) At first it wasn't on the schedule, and I suggested that myself and a guy from my lab, Sun, go to Houtong ourselves and meet up with them later. This sparked some controversy, as it seemed that several people in the group really wanted to see the cats, too, and the guy in charge, Frank, omitted that stop because he is afraid of cats (no laughter, please). At first I didn't believe that, but he really did look ill at ease the whole time we were there, so I'm thinking it may have been true.

So, poor Frank was apparently bullied into go to Houtong, or at least that was my read of the situation. Anyway, we all met up at JhongLi Station at 9AM, armed with food, sunscreen, insect repellent and lots of water for the projected 97F and bright sunshine day. An hour to Taipei Main station (standing, of course), then transferring twice to our first destination, Houtong, city of cats! The rest of the post will be many pictures of the town, mostly cat themed. You have been warned.

He met us in the train station

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Miner Kitty. This used to be an old mining town during the Japanese occupation.

Yup, that's right. I'm cute. Adore me.

It was scorching out. The celebrities got the best shady spots in town.

and the throngs of admirers didn't phase them one bit.

The landscape was very pretty, as well. An old town built into the side of a mountain.

Nope, we don't look like tourists at all...

Panda (her "English" name) was the biggest proponent of going to Houtong

TONS of cat souvenirs (as expected)

Mama and her two kids

What are YOU lookin' at?

cuddled up to a rock...

The gang under some grape vines

Kitty says "No Smoking"

One of my favorites

The Houtong Walk of Fame. This is Fluffy!

Cat themed everything

They are most certainly not starving...

I cheated. This is a picture of a picture in the station.

Basking in the attention

And the occasional pets

Sun being completely ignored

We finished up after baking in the sun for about an hour, and headed out to our next destination, which no one told me about until we got there...