Mark Twain once said: "When a man loves cats, I am his friend and comrade, without further introduction." Wu Hongli, a street cat photographer based in Shanghai, is such a friend with more than 3.2 million followers on China's twitter-like platform Weibo.

From a black British shorthair sniffing wild flowers in Spring, a calico cat leaning against the bamboo fence in Summer, to a civet cat climbing gingko trees in Autumn and a ginger cat playing with a snowball in winter, Wu has turned his lens to street cats across China and has taken more than 70,000 pictures over the past years.

Wu started to take pictures of cats in 2012 when he met a stray cat "Snow-white" at his workplace. After Wu adopted the cat and two kittens Snow-white brought, Wu discovered the beauty of these felines.

Besides taking photos of his own cats, Wu began to hit the streets to capture more street cats in Shanghai. Strolling through "longtang" (a unique type of Shanghai neighborhood), public gardens and street shops, Wu found something he is passionate about.

Last year, Wu resigned his job as a visual designer to become a freelance photographer and has been travelling to more than 20 major Chinese cities snapping photos of cats.

"It takes great patience and insights to capture different postures of street cats," Wu Hongli believes. When asked about his tips on taking a vivid cat photo, Wu said treating them like your friend is important.

"I think [cats] have a mind of their own – they have distinctly different characteristics and all have their own quirks. Showing their 'personality' is always the motivation that kept me taking photos," said Wu.

Wu likes to shoot cats in temples. Beijing's Dajue Temple, Nanjing's Jiming Temple and Handgzhou's Lingyin Temple, had all been his destinations. 

For one thing, most monks in the temple would keep these stray cats, and their lives there are relatively quiet and comfortable. For another, Wu considers cats as sacred animals that are perfectly suited to the temples' sanctity.

Wu also combines a city's urban individuality with his cat photos. While he was in Beijing, he captured "royal" cats in the Forbidden City. When he traveled to Chengdu in southwest China, he came across a cat living in a hot pot spice shop.

Wu's works and behind-the-scenes stories of cats have endeared him to many. A fan of him who got sick once insisted on going to his book-signing event because photos shared on Wu's Weibo "cured" him and helped him fight loneliness.

In October, Wu held an art exhibition with Beijing Adoption Day, a local charity organization dedicated to promoting animal rights in China, raising money for stray cats.

One of Wu's followers online even becomes his business partner. A calendar dedicated to Wu's cat photography has been published and more cultural and creative products are in the works.

Talking about the future, the photographer aims to capture photos of more cats around the world and said he'll try vlogging to share more intriguing moments of the cats. 

(Photo courtesy to Photographer Wu Hongli)