The Forbidden City, the massive palace complex in central Beijing, is not just home to the Palace Museum, but also houses dozens of stray cats.
One of these stray cats has recently become an online hit when the Beijing Palace Museum made him pick World Cup winners by choosing between two bowls of cat food.
Thousands of people on Chinese social media have since become online fans of the cat.
Baidian’s Rise to Fame
The red-haired Forbidden City resident Baidian’er (白点儿 aka ‘Whitespots’) was picked by museum staff as their stray betting expert earlier this month.
Initially, however, Baidian did not do too well in his predictions; he picked Australia over France (France won with 2-1), and Germany over Mexico (0-1).
On the official Palace Museum Weibo account (@故宫博物院, 5.6 million fans), the Palace Museum wrote that Baidian was so ashamed of his failing predictions earlier this month, that he did not want people to see his little face.
The shame after picking the wrong winners.
But Baidian won credibility again when he correctly predicted the outcome of victorious Russia against Saudi Arabia, and Croatia winning from Argentia.
The Palace Museum published the results of its stray cat picking World Cup winners under the hashtag “Palace Cat Predict World Cup” (#宫猫竞猜世界杯#), and Baidian has become an online hit. At time of writing, the hashtag was viewed more than 150 million times.
“I am coming over to the Forbidden City to see you Baidian!”, some commenters wrote.
From Palace to Hospital
On Wednesday, however, the Palace Museum reported on Weibo that their popular Palace cat was suddenly gravely ill and had been taken to the animal hospital.
Baidian’s hind legs seemed to be paralyzed and the cat was unable to move. Multiple veterinarians examined the cat and put it on an IV.
After receiving thousands of well wishes from online fans, the Palace Museum decided to open up a special Weibo account for the cat on Saturday. ‘Palace Baidianer’ (@故宫白点儿) already had over 5000 fans within hours.
Although Palace staff initially seemed doubtful over Baidian’s recovery, they became more optimistic when Baidian suddenly lifted up its hind legs again to clean himself on Friday.
“He lifted! his! leg!”, Palac Museum staff wrote on Weibo.
According to the latest Weibo reports, Baidian was in good spirits on Saturday, and is in a more stable condition. The vets at the local hospital have discovered that Baidian suffers from a heart condition, but are hopeful about his recovery. “We just hope he will be doing much better very soon,” Palace staff wrote on Weibo.
The Forbidden City’s Cats
Although there have always been many stray cats in the Forbidden City, they first received media attention in 2009, when their growing population was becoming a problem.
The Palace Museum, therefore, started a special program in that year to take care of the cats and to neuter them. According to China Daily, the Forbidden City’s neutering programme is quite unique, as China does not have a tradition of neutering pets; owners generally think making the animals infertile will harm their health. But this has also led to rising numbers of stray animals across the country.
From 2009 to 2013, a total of 181 Forbidden City stray cats were sterilized and returned to the location where they were found. The programme proved effective, with the number of stray cats soon stabilizing.
Apart from the fact that cats have a historical significance to the Forbidden City – cats have lived there ever since the complex was built in the 15th century – they also have a practical purpose: the cats have played an important role in protecting the museum’s precious antiques and relics from damage done by rats and mice.
“They are a powerful deterrent against museum rats, and we have not had a single cultural relic damaged by cat claws,” the museum’s sanitation department director told China Daily in 2014.
Baidian’s ‘Sister’
While Baidian is still hospitalized, his ‘sister’ Long Leg (长腿儿) is currently taking over his duties in predicting World Cup winners.
As for today’s matches: Long Leg has picked Uruguay as the winner against Portgual. The Argentina-France match might end with a draw, since she refused to pick either bowl for this game.
Baidian’s sister is taking over his duties while he is in the hospital.
“She’s so royal,” some commenters wrote.
Baidian’s sister.
Others said: “I just hope that Baidian will get well very soon.”
We will keep following Baidian’s recovery and update!
By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo
Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us.
Directly support Manya Koetse. By supporting this author you make future articles possible and help the maintenance and independence of this site. Donate directly through Paypal here. Also check out the What’s on Weibo donations page for donations through creditcard & WeChat and for more information.
©2018 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.
The post Paws at the Palace Museum: Forbidden City Cat Baidian Gets Its Own Weibo Account appeared first on What's on Weibo.