Life Desk :
Chinese dog breeder said Thursday that a property developer paid him 18 million yuan ($3 million) for Tibetan mastiff twins, highlighting how the breed has become a status symbol for China’s rich.
The large, slobbery dog with massive amounts of hair used to be best known for herding sheep in Tibet, but has now become a luxury for the ultra-rich who want to spread their wealth beyond stocks and real estate, AP reports.
Breeder Zhang Gengyun said he sold the 1-year-old twin male dogs to a single buyer at a luxury dog fair Tuesday in wealthy Zhejiang province, located on China’s east coast. The sales were reported by the local Qianjiang Evening News.
One of the twins – a golden-haired Tibetan mastiff – was sold for $12 million yuan, and his red-haired brother went for $6 million yuan.
Zhang said the buyer, from eastern Shandong province, paid him the 18 million yuan with his credit card.
Zhang denied the sale was a ploy by breeders to hype the price of Tibetan mastiffs and said he was reluctant to sell the twins.
