Houtong Cat Village

• By dokuya
• 4 December, 2015
• No Comments

The best way to get to Houtong from the Taipei area is by local train getting off at the Houtong Railway Station.  Houtong is a former coal mining town.  The mines shut down long ago but you can enjoy some of the ruins at the Houtong Coal Mine Ecological Park.  There are several hiking trails that are accessible from Houtong as well as some interesting rock formations.  It is scenic like many trains stops in that area.

With all that being said the one thing that makes Houtong unique and a curiosity stop for tourists is the Cat Village.  Houtong had about 100 stray cats.  Volunteers and locals worked together to build a park for stray cats.  Now there is a village where cats and people can coexist.  Looks like many of the cats have their own houses.  They are friendly and fun to watch.  It is interesting to see many of the tourists interacting with the cats and taking photos.