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.
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