Pet project

"When I read, played video games or played my piano, my cat quietly watched me. When I got bored, she came closer and I played with her," Miao says.

Zhou Xue, also a Xi'an native, saved a cat when Xi'an saw COVID-19 cases rise earlier this year and has adopted him. "I heard meowing from my roof and I tried to see what happened through my window. I saw a cat trapped on the roof. It was cold outside and I had no idea how long he was there."

Then she climbed the roof, tempted the cat with a sausage and pulled him to safety.

"I already had a cat, named Fei Fei, who is 5 years old. I was worried about introducing the new cat to Fei Fei. Thankfully, they get along fine," Zhou adds.