CHONGQING/HARBIN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- When Chongqing Firefly Bay Cat Harbor Park opened on New Year's Day in southwest China, it had just over 600 cats. More than eight months later, the number has passed 1,000.

By September, the 30,000-square-meter riverside park had rescued or taken in more than 1,300 cats, while over 240 had been adopted. As the number of cats grows, so do the demands on the park -- from veterinary care and staffing to finding enough space for new arrivals.

"The first thing is to keep the daily operation running," said Jian Ning, who oversees offline operations at the park. "We have to survive first before talking about anything else."

The park sits on what was a long-idle site near Nanbin Road in Chongqing Municipality. The local government provides the land rent-free, while the operator earns revenue from admission fees, spending inside the park and rent paid by businesses on the site.

A ticket costs 19.9 yuan (about 3 U.S. dollars). During the city's hot summer, when fewer people visit the outdoor park, daily attendance averages just over 300. On its busiest day, however, the park received 8,000 visitors.

Veterinary care accounts for roughly one-third of operating costs, Jian said. Current revenue is enough to keep the park running day to day, but making a profit remains difficult.

"If we had to pay normal rent, the operating pressure would be much greater," Jian said.

The park now employs 51 people, including animal-care staff, security guards and cleaners. Most employees who work directly with the cats are in their 20s. All are paid, full-time staff.

"We don't expect people to work simply for love," Jian said.

Most members of the park's core team are from stray-cat rescue groups. They had seen rescue efforts struggle with a basic problem: expenses kept mounting, while funding often depended on donations, subsidies or rescuers paying out of their own pockets.

The team therefore decided to open the site to visitors, hoping revenue from ticket sales and other businesses could help cover the cost of long-term care for rescued cats.

The park sums up the idea in a lighthearted slogan: "Cats work to support themselves."

The experiment is unfolding alongside a sizable pet economy. China had 126 million pet dogs and cats in urban areas in 2025, including 72.89 million cats, while the urban dog-and-cat consumer market reached 312.6 billion yuan, according to the 2026 China Pet Industry White Paper (Consumption Report).

Yet space has a limit. Jian estimated that the park could accommodate 2,000 to 3,000 cats. If the population approaches that level, she said, new admissions will have to be reduced.

The park does not encourage people to relocate stray cats that are regularly fed in residential communities, as they have already grown accustomed to those surroundings, Jian said.

Scientific research also suggests that managing free-roaming cat populations requires more than one-off interventions. A 12-year controlled study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that sustained, high-intensity neutering across contiguous areas could reduce cat numbers, while immigration and other compensatory effects could weaken the impact. The researchers recommended combining the trap-neuter-return method with complementary measures such as adoption and resource management.

Adoption certainly provides another outlet. Applicants face strict requirements, however, and the park conducts follow-up checks. None of the more than 240 adopted cats have so far been returned.

Visitors, meanwhile, must adapt to rules designed around the animals. Children under six are not admitted, and staff ask visitors not to chase cats or pick them up against their will. Jian said disputes over scratches and bites have become less common as visitor guidance has improved.

The park may stop admitting visitors once more than 3,000 people are inside. So far, the flow of people in and out has made that unnecessary.

Some 3,000 kilometers away in northeast China, another cat park is testing a similar combination of animal rescue and tourism on a smaller scale.

Scarlett's Friends, Heilongjiang Province's first cat-themed park, opened on Aug. 28 at the Yabuli Ski Resort in Harbin and is now home to 150 rescued stray cats.

The cat park occupies a site that had stood idle for years and gives Yabuli, long known for winter skiing, another attraction for the warmer months.

Before entering areas open to visitors, the cats must be neutered, vaccinated, treated for parasites, and assessed to determine whether they can adapt to interaction with people. Sick cats are moved to an isolation area, while a partner veterinary hospital provides regular health support.

Winter in Yabuli brings temperatures far below freezing. Indoor activity areas and cat houses have been equipped with air-source heating systems, and the cats will spend most of the winter indoors, said Liu Guangpeng, deputy general manager of Harbin Yabuli Tourism Investment Group Co., Ltd.

Ning Xiaofeng, general manager of the group, said stray-cat rescue that relies solely on continued spending is difficult to sustain. By linking the park with tourism, the operator aims to use tourism revenue to help cover the cost of caring for the cats while providing them with a stable home.

Liu said the park would limit visitor numbers rather than compromise the cats' welfare.

"Even if there were no visitors, we would still make sure the cats were properly cared for," he said. If crowds exceeded the park's capacity, it would introduce reservations and limit entry.

Similar ideas have begun to appear in local policies. In February, the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing in Jiangsu Province issued guidelines encouraging pet-related tourism while calling for stray animals to be managed via capture, neutering, return or adoption. The document also said eligible animal-protection groups could receive support through government service purchases and public-interest programs.

Back in Chongqing, Jian explained that relying entirely on subsidies, donations or unpaid work would not be sustainable.

"Only by using commercial operations to support rescue can we keep this going in the long run," she said.

During Chongqing's hot summer, the park stays open until midnight. As temperatures fall in the evening, visitors arrive to see the cats and enjoy the riverside night view.

Many simply sit and wait.

"Here, you don't have to talk or please anyone," Jian said. "You can just sit on the steps, and maybe a cat will come over, rub against you or fall asleep in your lap." ■

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