Meeting Cats in the Forbidden City: a Tracking Map of the Royal Cats

This book leads readers to follow the daily traveling route of a group of “guards with claws in front of the Imperial Palace，” in order to discover the “Cat Society” hidden in the Forbidden City， to get a close up experience of the “cat life” of the popular imperial cats in the Forbidden City， such as “Papa，” “Aobai，” “Jingzhang，” “Jixiang，” and “Ruyi，” and to see the change of seasons in the Forbidden City from the cats’ eyes.

Meeting Cats in the Forbidden City：

a Tracking Map of the Royal Cats

Authored amp; Photographed by Ke Cha

Illustrated by Zhang Wenyue

CITIC Press Group

February 2022

68.00 （CNY）

Jingzhang

Ke Cha

Ke Cha， whose original name is Yang Xu， is a creator of animal photography， original photographer of “Cats in the Forbidden City” series， contributing photography instructor of Canon （China）， contributor to National Geographic of the United States， and animal photo-taking consultant of American Cat Fanciers Association amp; Cat Aficionado Association （ACFA amp; CAA）.

I， a black cat with a white belly， white feet， and sparkling eyes， am the handsome short-furred bodyguard in the Forbidden City – “Jingzhang.” You will know the origin of my name when you see me. My duty is mainly to bask in the sun， sleep， go on patrol to catch mice， and relax. What？ You say my work is too idle？ Should you not expect this much of a cat？ Isn’t this the life a cat should have？ I’m always chatting with other cats who live here. Compared with others， I am definitely hard–working.

Just like my brother Jixiang， he only shows up for dinner every day. After he is satiated with food and drinks， he goes somewhere to sleep. He sleeps all day and says that’s because he’s an orange cat. So lazy the guy is！

I usually like climbing trees. I think the scenery in the big pine trees in Yihexuan is very gorgeous and I feel comfortable when sleeping there. Especially in spring， the garden is full of flowering Chinese crabapples， and there are always many tourists looking up at me to take photos. Although I don’t know whether they come to see me or the flowers， I enjoy this feeling.