美联社报道：藏獒成为中国暴富一族新宠

　　China's latest must-have luxury for the ultra-rich, to go withmansions and sports cars, is a large, slobbery dog with massive amountsof hair best known for herding sheep in Tibet。

　　Pet ownership is booming in China, and the Tibetan mastiff is thedog of the moment for those who want to spread their wealth beyondstocks and real estate。

　　"I used to invest in German shepherds, but Tibetan mastiffs arewhat's hot right now," said Sui Huizheng, a business owner who has about20 of the dogs and attended the 6th annual China Tibetan Mastiff Expothis past weekend。

　　Hundreds of the hairy dogs were on hand, and owners and handlersmarched the most expensive ones down catwalks as though they werefashion models. Some carried the names of wealthy Americans like "WarrenBuffett," 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 understandwhy someone would want to pay half a million dollars for a dog," saidMartha Feltenstein, president of the American Tibetan MastiffAssociation。

　　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 thoroughbredsand European designer fashions, China's rich see the Tibetan mastiffsas a new status symbol。

　　"You could call it a local luxury brand," said Rupert Hoogewerf, aShanghai-based tax specialist who compiles a popular annual list ofChina's richest people。

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

　　美联社3月24日报道,对中国的暴富一族来说，除了豪宅和跑车，最新的奢侈品就是以在西藏牧羊而闻名的毛茸茸、流着口水的大狗。曾经被视为资产阶级产物而一度遭禁的宠物饲养，如今在中国如火如荼。对那些想要在股票和房地产之外挥洒财富的人来说，藏獒正红极一时。

　　“我过去投资德国牧羊犬，但当前藏獒是热门”，生意人隋慧征(音)拥有约20只狗，他参加了上周末举行的第六届中国年度藏獒展览会。

　　数百只毛茸茸的大狗到场，狗主人和驯狗师让最昂贵的那些在秀场上亮相，仿佛它们是时装模特。一些狗起了“巴菲特”这样的美国富人的名字，其他的还有叫“上帝”、“王子”的。他们希望得到的大奖是，饲养者愿意支付几万美元和他们的藏獒配种。隋花了4.3万美元弄到一个大展示台和一个贴满海报的摊位来炫耀他的狗。

　　这种狂热似乎与其他地方的销售模式和常规相违背，尤其是对于一种以凶猛而著称的普通狗来说。“我能理解赛马和钻石，但没法理解为什么有些人想为一只狗花上50万美元”，美国藏獒协会主席玛莎?费尔滕斯坦说，“它们相对而言寿命不长，而且并非特别稀有。所以，它们能在中国被炒到这么高的价格，令人费解。”费尔滕斯坦说，在美国，区区几百美元就能买到藏獒。而中国的饲养者称，藏獒卖到几万美元，甚至超过10万美元。

　　继在澳大利亚房地产、美国顶级汽车和欧洲设计师的时装上大肆挥霍之后，中国的富人们又把藏獒当成了一个新的身份象征。中国如今拥有82.5万百万富翁———是现代史上最多的，它的奢侈品市场是全世界增长最快之一。中国官方媒体最近报道，在中国东北富人的“必备”品中包括娇妻、兰博基尼和藏獒，“越大越好，越凶猛越好。”

　　“你可以称之为区域奢侈品牌”，中国富人排行榜的制造者胡润称，“奢侈品牌在中国正以惊人的速度增长，拥有一只藏獒是增强信誉和炫富的另一个渠道。”(穆弈译)