74話 – Explore Taiwan By Train: Stop At Houtong(侯硐) Station

Houtong(猴洞) got the name because in the old time, there were a lot of monkeys around. But some people thought the first Chinese word "猴" was not elegant and changed it to the same pronunciation but different word "侯". Since the second Chinese word "洞" has the radical of water and this area was the charcoal mining. Afraid the radical of water and the water meaning would bring bad luck, they changed it to the word "硐" with the radical of stone and the stone meaning. Therefore, this one place has different Chinese names: "猴洞", and "侯硐". When the mining was still running, this was a prosperous town. After the mining was closed, the town was declined. Recently, this place becomes a popular tourists spot because of street cats hanging around this town. More and more cat lovers visit and take photos of those cats. As photos were published on the internet, more and more tourists rush in. If you are a cat lover, you can visit this cats' paradise and say "hello" to those cats.

We visited Houtong on a cloudy day. As it was almost lunch time, we bought Taiwan Railway's lunch box with us. We prepared to enjoy our lunch on the train. Although it was not weekend, there were still a lot of passengers on the train. We couldn’t find any seats to sit and eat the lunch box. Therefore, we carried the lunch box with us to Houtong which was a BIG BIG mistake. After we exited the Taiwan Railway's gate but still in the boarding lobby, we chose a bench to eat our lunch. One big and one small cat approached. We ignored their meows as not to feed them with human foods. The small cat then sat on my husband's thigh staring at the lunch box. Then, later, he/she moved behind my back. Suddenly, he/she climbed on my left shoulder. I was startled. How active and daring this cat was. That was my first image about those street cats in Houtong. Remember not to eat foods in front of those cats as you never know how those cats would react. This was the lesson that I learned.
↓Boarding lobby of Houtong Station where we supposed to leisurely enjoy the lunch box

↓This was the Taiwan Railway's lunch box (NT$60) that drove the cat couldn't control oneself (side dishes may be varied)


↓Shops selling cats and railway related souvenirs



In this place, there were even streets named "Cats Streets" where a lot of cats hanged around people's front yards. As houses were built along the mountain slope, there were some stairs and hills needed to overcome. If the housewife bought a lot of foods or merchandises, it must be a really hard work to carry those heavy stuffs and steps on the stairs and hills. I would like to clap my hands for those hard worked housewives. Since you were unable to ride bicycle or motorcycle on those stairs, the only way was to walk on feet. After visiting the Cats Streets, my second image about those cats was that they were all fat and looked like old aged cats. I didn’t see any slim and young cats around (or maybe they were hiding somewhere else that I couldn’t discover them). I guessed that they got enough or maybe over foods from human beings. They didn't need to worry about next meals like most street cats did. They were very lucky.

Although it was a cloudy day in Taipei, it was a raining day in Houtong. The weather was humid and cold. Maybe it was because of the weather that I didn't see any happy or smiling faces on those cats. They were not afraid of human beings, but most of them closed their eyes tightly when we passed by. I thought that they all put the same facial expression for tourists or strangers. Maybe that was their camera face.
↓Same camera face from different cats




Since there were a lot of cats walking around, I wonder whether this place has dogs or not. The answer was "YES". I saw some dogs. But those dogs didn't chase cats around as from my understanding that most dogs would do. Maybe they grew up together as friends or neighbors. Therefore, they would not attack each other but to live together peacefully. This place was cats' paradise.

Before leaving Houtong, we chose a small restaurant to have some hot soup in order to warm up our cold bodies. When the ordered dishes were put on the table, we stared at each other as surprising how small these dishes were. However, after we tasted it, we both agreed that they were delicious. Since it was around the tea time and we were not considering it as dinner, the amount of food quantity was enough. After finishing our snacks, we hurried to take the train back before we ran into the off-school hours since a lot of students were taking trains as transportation between schools and homes.
↓Small but delicious dishes that I particularly loved the fried tempura


Although it was a cold raining day, there were still some visitors like young girls from China, a couple shooting their outdoor wedding photos and some small groups. If we visit Houtong on a good sunny day, maybe those cats would look happier and willing to have suntan. In that way, we can take more beautiful cats photos. I am looking forward to visit Houtong another time.