藏獒成為中國暴富一族新寵

China's latest must-have luxury for the ultra-rich, to go with mansions and sports cars, is a large, slobbery dog with massive amounts of hair best known for herding sheep in Tibet.
Pet ownership is booming in China, and the Tibetan mastiff is the dog of the moment for those who want to spread their wealth beyond stocks and real estate.

"I used to invest in German shepherds, but Tibetan mastiffs are what's hot right now," said Sui Huizheng, a business owner who has about 20 of the dogs and attended the 6th annual China Tibetan Mastiff Expo this past weekend.

Hundreds of the hairy dogs were on hand, and owners and handlers marched the most expensive ones down catwalks as though they were fashion models. Some carried the names of wealthy Americans like "Warren Buffett," while others were called "God" and "Prince."

Their hoped-for prize: breeders willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a mate for their mastiff.

The craze seems to defy sales patterns and common sense elsewhere, especially for a dog that is common and is known for being fierce.

"I can understand racehorses and diamonds, but I don't understand why someone would want to pay half a million dollars for a dog," said Martha Feltenstein, president of the American Tibetan Mastiff Association.

In the US, Tibetan mastiff pups can be bought for as little as several hundred dollars, Feltenstein said.

Breeders in China say adult Tibetan mastiffs sell for tens of thousands of dollars, and can even go for more than $100,000.

After splurging on real estate in Australia, American thoroughbreds and European designer fashions, China's rich see the Tibetan mastiffs as a new status symbol.

"You could call it a local luxury brand," said Rupert Hoogewerf, a Shanghai-based tax specialist who compiles a popular annual list of China's richest people.

"Luxury brands are growing at phenomenal rates in China and owning a Tibetan mastiff is another channel for increasing your credibility and showing off your rich status."

美聯(lián)社3月24日?qǐng)?bào)道,對(duì)中國的暴富一族來說，除了豪宅和跑車，最新的奢侈品就是以在西藏牧羊而聞名的毛茸茸、流著口水的大狗。曾經(jīng)被視為資產(chǎn)階級(jí)產(chǎn)物而一度遭禁的寵物飼養(yǎng)，如今在中國如火如荼。對(duì)那些想要在股票和房地產(chǎn)之外揮灑財(cái)富的人來說，藏獒正紅極一時(shí)。
“我過去投資德國牧羊犬，但當(dāng)前藏獒是熱門”，生意人隋慧征(音)擁有約20只狗，他參加了上周末舉行的第六屆中國年度藏獒展覽會(huì)。

數(shù)百只毛茸茸的大狗到場，狗主人和馴狗師讓最昂貴的那些在秀場上亮相，仿佛它們是時(shí)裝模特。一些狗起了“巴菲特”這樣的美國富人的名字，其他的還有叫“上帝”、“王子”的。他們希望得到的大獎(jiǎng)是，飼養(yǎng)者愿意支付幾萬美元和他們的藏獒配種。隋花了4.3萬美元弄到一個(gè)大展示臺(tái)和一個(gè)貼滿海報(bào)的攤位來炫耀他的狗。

這種狂熱似乎與其他地方的銷售模式和常規(guī)相違背，尤其是對(duì)于一種以兇猛而著稱的普通狗來說。“我能理解賽馬和鉆石，但沒法理解為什么有些人想為一只狗花上50萬美元”，美國藏獒協(xié)會(huì)主席瑪莎•費(fèi)爾滕斯坦說，“它們相對(duì)而言壽命不長，而且并非特別稀有。所以，它們能在中國被炒到這么高的價(jià)格，令人費(fèi)解。”費(fèi)爾滕斯坦說，在美國，區(qū)區(qū)幾百美元就能買到藏獒。而中國的飼養(yǎng)者稱，藏獒賣到幾萬美元，甚至超過10萬美元。

繼在澳大利亞房地產(chǎn)、美國頂級(jí)汽車和歐洲設(shè)計(jì)師的時(shí)裝上大肆揮霍之后，中國的富人們又把藏獒當(dāng)成了一個(gè)新的身份象征。中國如今擁有82.5萬百萬富翁———是現(xiàn)代史上最多的，它的奢侈品市場是全世界增長最快之一。中國官方媒體最近報(bào)道，在中國東北富人的“必備”品中包括嬌妻、蘭博基尼和藏獒，“越大越好，越兇猛越好。”

“你可以稱之為區(qū)域奢侈品牌”，中國富人排行榜的制造者胡潤稱，“奢侈品牌在中國正以驚人的速度增長，擁有一只藏獒是增強(qiáng)信譽(yù)和炫富的另一個(gè)渠道。”