How much is that Tibetan doggy in the window? A mere £250,000

Forget Louis Vuitton handbags or Prada suits — the latest must-have accessory for China’s wealthy elite comes not from the chic designer stores of Shanghai or Beijing but from the plains of Tibet. The Tibetan mastiff, a rare, ancient and now extravagantly expensive breed of dog, has captivated those seeking to display their new-found affluence in a country experiencing a dizzying economic boom.

China has been in the grip of a fad for all things Tibetan since the opening last year of the world’s highest railway linking Beijing and Lhasa. That has fuelled the soaring price of mastiffs, with a perfect specimen now fetching as much as £250,000 — up from just under £100 in the late 1990s.

These huge animals, weighing up to 18st (113kg), are adapted to life in the thin air, freezing temperatures and wild mountains of Tibet, where they were domesticated 6,000 years ago, and are regarded as the oldest, biggest and fiercest domestic dog. The explorer Marco Polo described the mastiff as being as tall as a donkey and with a voice like a lion.



Traditionally, they have served as guard dogs for nomads who leave their tents all day to follow their flocks of yaks, sheep and goats. Their bite is as fierce as their bark and visitors approach such tents with great caution.

But the scarcity and reputation for fearlessness, ferocity and faithfulness of the Tibetan mastiff have transformed them into a status symbol for China’s new very rich. The mastiff may not only be the most expensive dog in the world, but also among the rarest, with only 100 pure-bred.

A grown “iron and gold” male, distinguished by its glossy black head and back and yellow-brown paws and underbelly, can fetch anything between 150,000 and 300,000 yuan. With a strong bloodline, prices of 1 million to 3 million yuan are not unusual.