Bookstore friends create a purr-fect cafe experience

(ECNS) – A bookstore in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, is not only attracting avid readers, but also fans of felines, the Yangtze Evening Post reports.

The 20 cats that inhabit the Xinhua Bookstore entertain customers, wander freely and jump from one bookshelf to another, the newspaper says.

The bookstore, also home to the Nanjing Cat Café, has a wall covered with hydroponic flowers and luscious plants. Part of the revenue earned at the café is used to buy food for the cats that live in the store and also for stray cats outside.

"It's so romantic to buy and read books here. We love to chat with friends with the cats around. I can forget all my worries when the cats are rubbing up against me," said an office worker who doesn't have time to raise cats herself.

The bookstore has become very popular less than a month since it opened. The manager says they have to limit the number of customers when it gets too crowded.

The bookstore also promotes awareness of animal care and the raising of pets.

There is a Chinese precedent for the cafe, however. A cat-themed coffee bar opened in Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province in December 2012. The shopkeeper named Gao Ming set up the coffee bar after graduating in veterinary medicine, Xinhua reported.