A night at city museum is the cat's meow

It was quite a scene at the entrance of the Shanghai Museum on Saturday with nearly 200 pet cats waiting patiently for entry in bags, strollers or chest carriers with their owners.

"The Meow of Museum Night," the first of its kind in any museum worldwide, launched on Saturday.

The luckiest cats in town to celebrate their first encounter with Bastet, the god of cats in ancient Egypt at the exhibition of "Top of the Pyramids, Ancient Egyptian Civilization Exhibition."

Running from July 19 to August 17 next year, at the Shanghai Museum, the exhibition boasts the world's largest and Asia's highest level of ancient Egyptian cultural relics seen outside Egypt.

It is also China's first cooperation with the Egyptian government, and more than 95 percent of the Egyptian artifacts are in Asia for the first time.

"The Meow of Museum Night" is inspired by the ancient Egyptians' worship of cats. Bast, the cat god, was regarded as a symbol of guardianship and spirituality.

The Shanghai Museum plans to hold 10 such events on Saturday evenings.

A series of activities are waiting for an "unforgettable night" for the pet cats and their owners.

In the "Secrets of Saqqara" exhibition hall, visitors will find cat footprints with sounds of a cat's meow. Apart from a number of cat-related artifacts on display, the illusionary cat's agile jumping on a wall also conjures up a virtual and real scene for visitors. They can take photo with their favorite catties in the special cat temple area in the exhibition hall.

On the first and second floors of the museum, there are also a variety of interactive programs specially supported by Ctrip, such as "Cat's Paw Prayer" and "Exclusive Photographer Shooting."

Each participant for the Meow night will be given an exclusive customized "Meow" night stamped passport, while visitors with pet cats also has the chance to get an exclusive cat-related art derivative.

To ensure safety during the event, Shanghai Museum has bought activity insurance for each visitor at "The Meow of Museum Night" and there's a qualified doctor on-site to deal with any emergency.

The safety of pet cats is also considered. The museum will provide cat-friendly installations, cat storage, cat mood stabilizers and cat strollers. There will be veterinarians on-site and a medical service vehicle for pet cats outside the museum.

Visitors who want to bring their pets should obtain a certificate of immunization for their cats (cat triple vaccine + rabies vaccine certificate) from a pet hospital. They also need to put their cats in cat bag or stroller, as well as leash and chest carrier.

The entire museum will be disinfected, sterilized and deodorized after the event.

The "pet tickets" have been fully sold out, but tickets are still available for visitor without carrying cats by searching Shanghai Museum at Ctrip app.