A temple in China has found itself a real-life Lucky Cat, one that raises its paw on demand to give visitors a friendly high-five.
The moggy, often spotted with a gold chain around its neck, has drawn big crowds to Suzhou’s Xiyuan Temple since it shot to internet fame recently.
Videos of the cat have gone viral across social media platforms. One video, posted on TikTok on Feb 28, has amassed more than 1.6 million views and 166,000 likes.
In the video, the grey and white tabby is seen calmly perched on a stone ledge as crowds of people surround it, waiting their turn to receive the blessing of the feline’s high-five.
Many tourists have flocked to the temple to high-five the cat, believing that this would bring them better luck, reported South China Morning Post (SCMP) and other Chinese media outlets.
One tourist told SCMP that she had visited the cat three days in a row.
“Sometimes you have to wait half an hour to high-five it, but it is totally worth it because it is so healing,” she said.
The temple’s entrance fee is five yuan (S$0.92) per person.
A cultural landmark renowned for its breathtaking gardens and traditional Han Buddhist architecture, Xiyuan Temple has been dubbed a “cat petting paradise” because of the many stray cats that roam its grounds.
The “high-five cat”, however, is not a stray but a pet owned by a temple visitor identified as Mr Liu, the South China Morning Post reported, citing temple staff.
Mr Liu said his cat is named Jellybean. The four-year-old feline loves the outdoors, so Mr Liu often takes it to sunbathe in the plaza outside the temple on weekends.
Jellybean also has earmites, Mr Liu told Chinese media outlet Dahe News, and being out in the sun helps dry the wet medication applied to its ears.
Mr Liu used to live-stream Jellybean’s temple visits.
On March 1, some online viewers noticed in the video that the cat had become less eager to high-five visitors, joking that Jellybean might be “on strike”. Other critics said it seemed overworked by the “fan meet”.
In response, Mr Liu said he did not intend to use Jellybean to drive online traffic to his videos. And he has decided to pause his temple visits with Jellybean, as the growing crowd and overwhelming attention might not be good for the cat.
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Thanks for sharing!