A Shiba Inu at a animal themed cafe Dahuang's Home in Beijing's Chaoyang district.[Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]

Situated in Beijing's Shichahai scenic area, CAVE looks no different from any other cafe in the city on the outside, but people stepping in for a cup of coffee will find it interesting inside－some customers are holding and caressing hedgehogs in their palms.

In recent years, an increasing number of animal themed cafes－with the majority being cat cafes－h(huán)as gained huge popularity among China's city dwellers. With this rising trend, a bunch of eateries carving a niche of housing unique animals such as hedgehogs has sprung up.

In Beijing alone, there are several niche cafes or restaurants like CAVE. There is an izakaya, or a Japanese gastropub, that has three raccoons; a cafe where customers can take photos with about 30 huskies; and another cafe where people can have fun with a dozen Shiba Inus, a breed of Japanese hunting dogs.

CAVE, which is also the city's first hedgehog themed cafe, now has seven hedgehogs kept in cages that are kept in a room separated from the dining area. If customers want to play with the hedgehogs, they need to put on thick gloves and the waiters will bring them out and put them onto the customers' hands.