For pet owners, every vacation is a struggle; they want to travel abroad, but who will take care of the pets? What to do with pets during the long holidays has become a headache for many owners. Because of this, pet lodgings have emerged and have solved the problems of many owners.

"Every National holiday, when I go back (from Beijing) to my hometown Nanchang (Capital city of Jiangxi Province in southeast China), I worry about where Mr. Ear will go. I ask my friends to see who can take care of it during the time I'm away," Yu Jian, whose dog is named Mr. Ear, told CGTN.

"Sometimes it's very hard to find a reassuring friend who has the time. Mr. Ear needs to take a walk for at least an hour per day, and he is very needy, I feel bad for always asking my friend to do that during the holiday," said Yu.

Pet shops with lodging services get very busy during the holidays. "The business was three to four times busier than usual," Wang Xiaolong, the shopkeeper of Noble Pets, told us.

Wang keeps his own pets in the shop as well, and he initially set up the shop because he was also looking for somewhere to send his pet while he went on vacation.

Pet lodging services do so much more than just provide shelter and meals for pets. Pets owner often worry about the lodgings. "After all, it is a new environment, they are afraid their pets will get scared. So we built a place that mimicked a home environment so that they could be more comfortable," Wang said.

Like children, not all pets adapt to the lodgings well. Cats, in particular, get anxious being apart from their owners. To ease the owners' worries and pets' anxieties, Wang installed cameras to make sure owners can see their pets 24 hours a day, and video chat with their pets if needed.

Besides for this, Wang's shop sells homemade food, supplies, medical treatment and grooming for pets, meaning he can basically meet all their daily needs.

His store is also a reflection of the larger pet economy.

Pet services have formed a complete chain. According to the white paper on China's pet industry in 2019, the consumption market of urban pets (dogs and cats) in China exceeded 200 billion yuan in 2019, reaching 202.4 billion yuan, up 18.5 percent over 2018.

(Cover image: Sa Ren)