Do you have a pet? Owning a pet is becoming very common(常见的) in China these days. And pet owners are now willing to spend more money on their pets than before.

    According to a report from Goumin.com and Pet Fair Asia, Chinese people living in cities spent a total of 202.4 billion yuan on their pets in 2019. Most pet owners are people born after 1990. Most of them have high incomes and are well educated. Pet owners in China are spending more on pet food, clothing and furniture, according to report from Euro monitor International.

    Miss Hou, 28, lives in the city of Chengdu. She spent 6,000 yuan on her two cats last year. I bought tinned cat food from the United States, New Zealand, Japan and Thailand, Hou said to Xinhua. If I have time, I also cook for them, she said.

    An aging society and fewer people having children are among the main reasons for keeping pets, said Liu Xiaoxia, CEO of Goumin.com. Keeping pets has met the emotional(感情的) needs of many people. Almost 60 percent of pet owners see their animal friends as their own children, Liu said.

    Beating loneliness might be another reason. Many young people are leaving their hometowns to make a living in big cities. They are suffering(忍受) from great loneliness and pressure, as they have few friends and face a high cost of living. Keeping pets will help them feel relaxed, the 2019 Chinese Pet Industry White Paper said.

Michael was an 8-year-old student. He became ill and had to spend all day in bed at home. Because other children could not come near him, he felt sad and bored.

There wasn't much to do, so he just looked out of the window. One day, something strange happened outside the window. It was a panda eating a sandwich. The panda said "good afternoon" to Michael and then left. Michael was very surprised. He tried to find out what was going on. Suddenly, he saw a monkey playing with a ball outside his window. Next came an elephant with a watermelon in his mouth. As Michael saw more and more strange animals, he began to laugh and found it hard to stop. Everything seemed to be better and better.

Luckily, Michael's health improved, he felt better and went back to school. He told his friend Dave about all the strange things outside his window. While Michael was talking, he saw something in Dave's schoolbag. Michael asked what it was and Dave showed him. Inside the bag were many clothes that looked like animals. Dave wore them to cheer Michael up while he was ill!

From that day on, Michael always tried his best to make sure his friends never felt sad or bored.

I help to look after some old ladies at the old people's home every week.I'd like to bring them a little happiness.

This afternoon when I was about to go there, the telephone rang. It was myhusband. "Sorry, dear, but I have to work late in my shop today. So you haveto take Taylor home after school." I decided to take my son with me to theold people's home for the first time because I couldn't find any friend to helptake care of him.

With my new partner, I started my work. I found that just when we wanted toleave their rooms, my son kissed everyone on their faces and whispered(低声说) something in their ears. Everylady looked happy.

Later in the evening, my husband asked how my work went on. "It's lotsof fun," I said. "We are quite a pair. When Taylor kissed to the ladies,it surely made them happy, especially when he whispered in their ears. "

"What did you whisper about?" asked my husband.

Looking up at his dad and me with his big brown eyes, he told us," Iwhispered, 'I love you, Grandma. And I just want you to know that you look so beautifultoday. '"

I asked, "why did you do that?"

He said, "I just know it can make them feel good."