Feline fix fascinates younger generation, report says

Many young single people in China become fascinated by cats because they need affection, according to a report conducted by the Tencent Research Institute in December and January.

By 2013, there were nearly 200 million single people in the country, a rise of 8.6 percentage points from 1990, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Tencent surveyed 3,242 cat lovers, known in China as "cat sniffers" because of their tendency to literally inhale the scent of the animal, either their own pets or those belonging to neighbors, friends or relatives.