Kaohsiung Station Cats at Xin Zuoying Station, Taiwan

Kaohsiung is going station cat crazy – whilst many might already know about Mikan 蜜柑, did you know Xin Zuoying station in Kaohsiung also has three station cats with their own station play area?

Three stray cats were adopted by Xin Zuoying Station staff and in early 2025, a new cat lounge was unveiled where the cats can play whilst travellers watch.

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Kaohsiung Station Cats at Xin Zuoying Station, Taiwan

We caught up with these cute Kaohsiung station kitties just before we boarded Taiwan’s Sanrio train back to Taipei – how much cuteness can you handle in one day?

From what to expect to the location of the cat play area, here is our guide to checking out the cats of Xin Zuoying Kaohsiung station (a short walk from the Zuoying HSR station next door).

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Xin Zuoying Station cats

We actually first heard about these station cats after visiting the Mikan cat gift-shop downstairs in Zuoying MRT Station (more on Mikan in a moment).

While not as famous, these Kaohsiung Station cats are equally well looked after. After being taken in as strays, station staff set to work and converted an old bike storage and maintenance area into a cat play area.

The play area consists of several towers and building blocks (which also spelt out the words ‘Xin Zuoying) where the cats are free to play all day.

When they don’t want public attention, they often scarper into the back rooms of the station away from the public eye.

The Xin Zuoying cat play area is popular with rail travellers who come to watch and photograph the cats before their train departs.

Note that whilst this has a similar set-up to a cat cafe, visitors are not allowed to enter the play area.

You might like – Our guide to Houtong Cat Village, near Taipei on the Pingxi Line

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Station staff are ca-tatoniic

Many of Kaohsiung’s Station staff and tenants were interviewed in early 2025 by local news and all said how much they love to see the cats in the station.

The stall owners and businesses immediately next to the cat play area also said they’d notice an increase in trade and footflow, plus many people bringing the cats kitty treats.

On our visit, there was a staff member playing with the cats using cat toys plus several cleaning staff looked on with smiles on their faces – it would appear the Kaohsiung station cats are very well looked after!

Whether these Kaohsiung station cats at Xin Zuoying will ever become as famous as Mikan remains to be seen but it is nice to see them adored so much by staff and travellers alike.

You might like – Our guide to the world’s oldest cat cafe, Kitten Cafe in Taipei >

Where to find the Xinzuoying station cats

The cat’s play area can be found at the First North Entrance of XinZuoying Station – it is on the ground floor a few yards away from the platform entry gates, near to Sushi Express.

If you aren’t sure, ask at the information desk and they’ll point you in the right direction.

The Xin Zuoying station cat play area doesn’t appear to have any fixed opening hours and the cats are free to roam so there are no fixed times as such.

We visited twice in several days and only saw all three cats on one occasion – the other time we didn’t see any of them so maybe they were cat-napping elsewhere.

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Kaohsiung’s other famous station cat

Meet Mikan 蜜柑, Kaohsiung’s cutest station cat. Mikan has a huge social following, her own range of cute kitty merchandise and makes regular appearances at a Kaohsiung Metro KRTC station (KRTC stands for Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation).

A stray cat adopted by Kaohsiung station staff, Mikan the cat’s fanbase is growing all the time and hundreds flock to Ciaotou Sugar Refiner Kaohsiung Metro station every time she appears (often in costume). The station is even cat-themed, plus a bakery next door sells cat shaped steamed buns.

Most recently in early 2025, Kaohsiung’s KRTC have signed a major Mikan merchandising and branding deal which is set to cat-apult (sorry) Mikan to global stardom, making Mikan big in Japan!

Read about the time we ‘met’ Mikan and our visit to Mikan’s gift shop just below Xin Zuoying Station >