Wu Hongli likes to shoot cats in well-known locations of cities. Cats are like human beings and they've got their particular characteristics, just like the cities.[Photo by Wu Hongli/provided to China Daily]

On New Year's Day he published a collection of photos that captures cats jumping high from high roofs. The photographer named the series as "jumping from 2019 to 2020", marking the change of year, and soon Wu had been flooded by messages of good will from his admirers.

This month he published a book, Cats of the Four Seasons, in which he gives full play to 39 cat photos he has taken over the years. Of course anyone who owns or loves cats has their own stories to tell, and Wu's book leaves enough space between the photos that allows them to do exactly that.

The book itself is the offspring of an earlier Wu product, a 2020 calendar containing 400 of his photos he published late last year. It was obviously a very productive year for Wu, for earlier he published a book titled Cats in Beijing, with about 100 photos he has taken in the capital over the years, including at well known sites such as the Forbidden City and in the hutong (narrow alleys) areas of the capital.

One of Wu's admirers, under the name Coco on his Sina Weibo account, said: "I'm fascinated with his photos, which capture the 'personalities' of cats. There are many photos of cute animals on the internet, but the cats he picture are better because they look different and real."

Many of those commenting on Wu's photos go so far as to say the pictures have "cured' them and helped them fight loneliness and ward off the stresses of life.