I visited Houtong Cat Village 猴硐貓村 with my situationship Jonas on the 18th of May, 2026. We departed by train from Taipei and continued on by train to Xinchen Taroko near the Taroko Gorge. This is part of our trip around Taiwan
Planning our First Train Route in Taiwan
I knew the minute I’d read about Houtong Cat Village that I wanted to visit. Jonas was also down, before our relationshit hit the fan on the 12th of May, and also after. After all, it was me who taught him the benefits of cats and how to love them back in Mauritius. He wouldn’t be where he is today as an avid cat lover without my encouragement. Something I now seem to regret.
There are direct trains from Taipei Main Station to Houtong. It takes about an hour on a local commuter train to get there and there are a few train options. However, we needed to go to Xincheng Taroko station afterwards, which is a connection that only happens about thrice a day. At least, the direct train, that is. There are no hotels in Houtong Cat Village. Because I knew I wanted to go to the area of the (somewhat closed, unfortunately) Taroko Gorge, that’s where we’d booked our hotel for the next four nights.
The best train connection to Houtong Cat Village and then onward to Taroko Xincheng is as follows:
Departure Taipei Main Station: 10:05 (platform 4A) → Houtong Cat Village 猴硐: 10:51 (46m) NT$83 per person (local express 4026 to Hualien)
Departure Houtong Cat Village: 13:03 (platform 1A) → Xincheng Taroko 新城: 15:18 (2h15m) NT$277 per person (local express 4030 to Hualien)
This would give us a little over three hours in Houtong Cat Village, which is plenty of time, depending on what you do. Also, the first (vegetarian-friendly) cafés open at 11:00.
That last train continues on to Hualien if you prefer to stay in a bigger town further away from the Taroko Gorge.
The Train from Taipei to Houtong
We departed our Airbnb in Ximending in Taipei at 9:15 and took an Uber (NT$113) to Taipei Main Station. It showed up very quickly. The drive to the main station is short, but I’m happy we didn’t walk with all our (surprisingly) heavy luggage. The sun was already quite powerful. We arrived a little before 9:30, having deliberately planned in enough time to make this not stressful.
At the train station, we went to a counter to ask for a ticket in person. I’m sure we would have also managed to get a ticket from the ticket vending machines. Though I was ready to ask for it in Chinese, everyone in Taipei working a job that might face tourists speaks English as well. We asked for a ticket for the 10:05 train to Houtong Cat Village, but the ticket doesn’t appear to be tied to a specific train time. We also checked the vending machines if we can buy the onward ticket to Xincheng Taroko, but you can only buy tickets from the station you’re in at the vending machines.
The big screens in Taipei Main Station switch between Chinese and English. We thought we were looking at the correct train departing at 10:05 and would have gone to platform 3A, but then it switched and said there’s a train departing at 10:05 going southbound to Hsinchu, not Houtong/Hualien. You have to check more carefully as there are two categories: southbound and northbound. This doesn’t make perfect sense, since almost everything from the perspective of Taipei is more southerly. So think of south
We then bought two large coffees at 7-Eleven and descended to the platforms. The gates are staffed, so tourists don’t get lost and hop on the wrong train. Just scan the QR code on your ticket. The metros, buses, and local city trains in Taipei are no eating, no drinking, so we spent the next 20 minutes drying to down our coffee as fast as possible. The platform was quite busy.
When we boarded the train, we had trouble finding seats and almost ended up standing next to our luggage. We found two single seats in a different compartment and spent most of the train ride doing our own thing. This train stays underground for quite a while, but when it emerges, there are some nice views of the Keelung River and the landscapes. The route is also full of tunnels to cut through the mountainous terrain.
After stopping in Rueifang (Ruifang), more seats freed up. Mister Heartbreak moved to my area, but the next stop was Houtong Cat Village, where we alighted the train.
If you’re wondering: we moved to Penang, Malaysia to volunteer for a cat trap-neuter-return (TNR) organization. Jonas has been emotionally cheating with this mentally ill 23-year-old Muslim Malay child called Julia Hannah Binti Zulkifli. For the last three months (which is the tourist visa time in Malaysia for EU passports), he’s spent more meaningful time with her than with me while gaslighting me that he still loves me. Meanwhile, she has been inviting him to private meetings by the pool between them where she fakes a crisis. She’s also been physically getting in between Jonas and I whenever we were out in public. I’m in a real shitstorm here and now I’ll have to face World War III alone while he gets validated every hour of the day by a child with the personality of a mirror.
Three Hours in Houtong Cat Village + Cat Beer
Upon arrival, we walked on the narrow platform to the stairs. The elevators of the train station were under construction, so right now, Houtong doesn’t seem like an accessible place for people with severe mobility issues. Up on the station level, we immediately saw lots of cat-themed things around, including a food and water bowl. We first spent 10 minutes buying tickets onward from Houtong to Xincheng Taroko. This was a wise decision, as the communication was a little less smooth than in Taipei. Now we also didn’t have to deal with this and stress out about catching the right train. All ticket prices matched the information on the Google Maps app, thus far.
A cat wandered through the train station while we were buying the tickets. Some reviews call this calico cat the stationmaster. An apt name! She was cleaning herself on a bench and wasn’t interested in pets or playtime. Much to our liking, she had an ear notch, meaning she’s sterilized. It would be good if it’s a cat village that isn’t actively breeding them. That’s when my mind turned to a dark corner, and I wondered if many people go here to dump their unwanted cats… A fellow tourist with a big lens on his phone came by and started snapping away at the star.
Our main priority by now was to get some food and chill. We walked across the tracks via the bridge to the west side of Houtong. The sun was truly blazing by now. Everything is cat themed. We walked the narrow streets up some stairs past many cat statues and signs asking visitors to not misbehave. The cats are fed and don’t need complimentary feeding from tourists. One sign asked to not bring dogs to Houtong Cat Village, since some cats have been scared to death before by dogs. I approve of this sign and wish for more dog-free spaces.
We’d arrived at our pre-selected café: Niao A (鳥ㄚ). There was an orange-and-white boy with a half-tail and a collar waiting inside. I confirmed with the staff that all food is vegetarian/vegan. We chose a table and ordered the three cup lion’s mane mushroom dish. I had a chrysanthemum tea with it and Jonas a yogurt-kiwi fizzy drink that was truly refreshing. It is mandatory to order one drink per person and the expensive dish didn’t count for anything. There was another cat inside who loved to play.
We spent about an hour here, while I’d occasionally wander outside to check out the other cats in the immediate area. I’d pspsps inside the ruined buildings where the plants had taken over, without finding more cats. The cats I did find were all relaxing in public, only lifting their heads at passersby. Most of them didn’t want to play with my excellent shoestring cat toys. Granted, it was hot and not ‘cat hour’, so they were all a little sleepy.
After food, we followed a sign saying ‘more cats up here’ and climbed up the stairs to a little outdoor cat relaxation area with trees and perches. There was one cat there. This level has more cafés that had opened by now, including the one called Empress Gallery (Catwalk 219). When I did the research into Houtong Cat Village over a month ago, I’d read reviews of their special beer called ‘Cat Beer’. I recognized the artwork and tried to get a bottle.
The ladies inside the café were waving ‘no’ at me from the outside. A cat inside the café was trying to get out. I went next door in the shop and asked the old man who was ready to seat me for lunch if he sells māo píjiǔ (貓啤酒). He first thought I asked for a standard Taiwan beer, but I asked again and then he went to the shop that had the cat beer and yelled until the lady that had rebuffed me opened the door. I had my translator app ready with ‘I just want to buy a bottle of cat beer’, and the friendly man really helped get the point across.
Her tune changed completely and she got me a cold bottle, priced at NT$200, and asked me if she needed to open it. I asked if I can take it away, and she said yes, then found an ambient-temperature bottle for me. She told me about the label and that the painting is her artwork. She asked me if she can pack it up for me, which I appreciated. Five minutes later, I had a beautiful bottle of Houtong cat beer wrapped for the journey ahead in a little plastic bag with a postcard from her artwork and the cat that inspired her world as well. This was suddenly all so lovely and I thanked her. 謝謝。
Lastly, we visited the area north of the train bridge, but also still on the west side. There was another little plaza with quite some cats chilling in the shade and only lifting their heads to ekekek at the birds. This was probably the loveliest place to hang in Houtong. The cats chased my shoestring, rubbed up for pets, and meowed at me to commiserate in the endless cycle of suffering that is life. Meow too, buddy, meow too.
There are some more convenience stores with locals and cats in this area, but not much hipster stuff. Here I saw a few cats that suffered from flu with their snotty noses. I guess not all of them can find a good hiding spot whenever it rains. Still, this is nothing like the suffering of cats elsewhere. And the cat population in Houtong Cat Village simply must go down since the people TNR them and them looking good is a source of income since the mining boom ended.
Thankfully, Houtong Cat Village isn’t Istanbul, Cyprus, Greece, or the one-street Jelutong colony in Penang I’ve been TNR’ing; I’ve visually spotted about 30 cats, both inside businesses and on the paths of Houtong. Ever the doubter of my research, Jonas was afraid this place would be unwholesome. But the far majority of cats has been spayed or neutered already. Most of them look very healthy and cared-for. The cats are just sick of all the qualitatively-poor attention and constant cameras, which I understand.
The last thing I noticed that the cafés on the original level all have pictures of the same two cats we saw inside Niao A. Does… everybody advertise just these two happy felines? Funny and strange. There are also some businesses that have borderline aggressive signs outside to let people know to not come in to meet their cats unless they’re ordering food and drinks.
Leaving Houtong + Train to Xincheng Taroko
While I’d optimistically hoped there’d be enoug time for me to check out the Keelung River in Houtong or visit the museum about its mining history, the cats took up the full three-hour visit.
The cats were wonderful, but the people running businesses there weren’t very welcoming. As someone who has visited many cat areas and cat cafés, I understand the average guest doesn’t know how to behave among felines. I’ve seem some atrocious cathandling by both young and old. And I guess there are also a lot of cheapskates visiting Houtong Cat Village, just trying to get their content and get out.
Back at the train station, we descended to platform 1A and waited ten minutes for the train to show up. Aboard, many people were eating on the train. Perhaps this train ride is long enough to count as a long-distance journey for the no-eating rule to be disregarded. I’m still trying to find out what is and isn’t acceptable in Taiwan. And eating a Taiwan railway bento box is definitely on my to-do list.
On the train, we zoom past Sandiaoling and its bicycle-friendly tunnel through the mountains. We pass beautiful rice paddies, rivers, and coastlines. Seeing the hard-to-reach Guishan Island from the train was lovely. I was enjoying the train ride so much, and every time I look over to Jonas, I see that my joy makes him actively unhappy. The happiest Jonas has been these last two years were when he’d see me miserable as hell. Something switched in his brain that turned him into a torturer.
People join the train and alight it in bigger towns like Yilan and Nan’ao. A man forgot his bag on the train – or so I thought – and I ran to the door with it and yelled “Sir! Sir!” until a lady and Jonas yelled with me and he turned around. He made a gesture like ‘no worries about it’ and continued walking. Puzzled, I put the bag back and sat down. The lady thanked me for trying to do a good. He returned a few minutes later and said “I come back for it” and laughed.
The Qingshui Cliffs were a bummer from the train, as much of this steep coastline is in tunnels. I am reminded that Taiwan is a very car-centric country, and in order to see those spots, one must hitchhike, drive a motorcycle, or a car.
We arrived in Xincheng Taroko station after crossing the Liwu River mouth. From there, Jonas wanted to take a taxi to our hotel. There were about three of them outside the station. We asked one man and it took a bit to explain where the Santorini-inspired Moon Bay Coastal Hotel in Xincheng is, but once we were in agreement, it was a breeze. The meter slowly counted up to NT$110. Upon arrival, two friendly guys checked us in. Now it’s time to chill, drink my Cat Beer, and figure out how and what we can see of the Taroko Gorge.
Thanks for reading my heartbreak vent.
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