Chinese museum opens night tour for cats

A yellow cat named Trump and its owner at an exhibition at the Shanghai Museum on July 27.

The cats seemed impatient as they waited in line with their owners outside the Shanghai Museum, their tails wagging and whiskers quivering. Tickets for the July 27 exhibition sold out within days, as many Shanghai cat owners wanted to bring their pets and post pictures on social media.

Amy, an event attendee, said she postponed her trip to Europe to secure one of 200 tickets for her yellow cat named Trump, whom she considers a son.

Amy's cat, named after the former US president and Republican candidate, dressed as a Chinese emperor and winked arrogantly at the cameras at the museum event.

"I can't imagine my life without a cat," Amy said. "So I understand why the Egyptians valued cats so much."

The number of pets in China is set to soar to more than 120 million by 2023, with cats being the most popular. Young people are largely driving the trend, many of whom see pets as their children and a “cheaper alternative” to having children, experts say.

The "Egyptian Cat Night" is one of 10 cat events planned by the Shanghai Museum. Museum staff check the cats' vaccination and insurance records before allowing them and their owners to attend the event.

Claire, owner of a German Rex cat named Tiedan, said the event showed that "cats have always been man's best friend". "Young people are under a lot of pressure now and cats help relieve this, maybe it was the same in ancient times," Claire said.

Cats were considered sacred in ancient Egypt and were associated with the goddess Bast, representing fertility and protection. "In modern times, cats are a symbol of cuteness, which is very different from ancient Egypt," said a young girl named Feifei, holding her white cat named Sticky Rice.

A girl holds a white cat at an exhibition at the Shanghai Museum on July 27.

The cats in attendance all have their own social media accounts, and one or two of them even have content production teams dedicated to them.

At a display about Egypt's Saqqara site, where archaeologists recently unearthed dozens of cat mummies, meows filled the air as visitors took photos of the animals next to a statue of the goddess Bast.

"There are so many ancestral cats here, I want to bring Sticky Rice to see them," Feifei said. Like the other cats, Sticky Rice seemed unmoved by the visit to this exhibition hall.

TB (according to VnExpress)

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/bao-tang-trung-quoc-mo-tour-dem-cho-meo-388708.html