Many Xi'an citizens still can't forget the scene at 2 p.m. on September 9, 2009, at Xianyang International Airport.
30 black Mercedes-Benz cars, lined up in a long line, waiting for a VIPs. The first time I saw such a battle, the onlookers speculated about which big star was coming.
When the plane landed slowly, what came down from the cabin was a dog, pure black, with a huge body.
This is no ordinary dog, it is called "Yangtze River No. 2", it is a Tibetan mastiff worth 4 million.
At that time, the domestic Tibetan mastiff was in full swing, and millions of Tibetan mastiffs abounded, and a Tibetan mastiff in Qingdao even marked a sky-high price of 30 million yuan.
But no one expected that in just a few years, thousands of Tibetan mastiffs would be abandoned, wandering in Tibetan areas, and even reduced to cheap hot pot ingredients.
The boom receded, leaving only a spot of chicken feathers.
1
"The Father of the Chinese Tibetan Mastiff"
The Tibetan mastiff fever first began in the United States.
In 1969, American expedition team member Bally Bishop brought back a pure black Tibetan mastiff from the foothills of the Himalayas.
Before that, Americans had only seen this creature in Marco Polo's book: "as big as a donkey, as galloping as a tiger, roaring like a lion." It felt as if Africans were seeing penguins for the first time and naturally regarded them as treasures.
In the 1980s, the U.S. economy recovered, and speculators who smelled the wind began to sell Tibetan mastiffs. At that time, the Tibetan mastiff was just a plaything in the circle of rich people in the United States, but through a "spokesperson", this boom spread to Taiwan.
In 1983, Zhang Peihua, a well-known Taiwanese actor, bought a Tibetan mastiff from the United States and brought it back to Taiwan, and the Tibetan mastiff cost Zhang Peihua 1.2 million Taiwan dollars, which was the total price of a building in Taiwan at that time.
Popular stars, rare pets, sky-high prices... Such elements naturally carry flow. This kind of "Tibetan mastiff dog", which can only be imported from the United States, quickly became popular in Taiwan. At that time, as long as there was a tibetan mastiff dog show, the venue was full, and Taiwanese dog lovers collectively chartered cars to come.
The popularity of tibetan mastiffs has brought huge business opportunities. At the end of the 1980s, a Tibetan mastiff puppy could sell for 200,000 to 300,000 Taiwan dollars, and the breeding fee was as high as 200,000 Taiwan dollars.
200,000 Taiwan dollars converted into rmb, about 43,500 yuan, and the per capita annual income of mainland urban residents in the same period was less than 1,300 yuan. That is to say, an ordinary office worker at that time could afford to buy a Tibetan mastiff puppy without eating or drinking for 34 years.
Keen speculators quickly set their sights on the mainland. In 1985, when a Fujian businessman came to the door with a few photos of Tibetan mastiffs, Wang Zhankui, a farmer in Henan, looked confused.
As the owner of a kennel farm, he had never seen such a "big dog". The following spring, with a contract signed with the Fujian people, Wang Zhankui entered Tibetan areas for the first time.
In the 1980s, when transportation was inconvenient, Wang Zhankui and his party endured altitude sickness, walked in Tibetan areas, and spent 45 days with herders in exchange for 23 Tibetan mastiffs.
Of these, 18 were transported to Fujian and smuggled to Taiwan. The remaining 3 female dogs and 2 male dogs were used by Wang Zhankui as the first breeding dogs of the farm.
Tibetan mastiffs, which cost 50 yuan to 200 yuan, were bought by Fujian merchants for 7,000 yuan a piece, and in the era when 10,000 yuan households were still scarce, Wang Zhankui became a 100,000 yuan household.
At that time, Wang Zhankui probably did not expect that he would go farther and farther on this road and become the "father of the Chinese Tibetan mastiff" in everyone's mouth.
2
30 million yuan a head
After selling Tibetan mastiffs overnight, Wang Zhankui later went to Qinghai, Tibet and other places to find dogs many times, and the Tibetan mastiffs in the family were also constantly breeding.
But without Taiwan's big money, coupled with the fact that in 1993, Beijing and Shanghai promulgated strict dog management measures, and fewer and fewer people came to Wang Zhankui to buy dogs, and Wang Zhankui, who had no door to sell dogs, thought of the media.
In September 1998, Dahe Bao published an article entitled "Searching for Tibetan Mastiffs in a Thousand Miles, Listening to the Roar in the Central Plains", portraying Wang Zhankui as a righteous warrior who "braved hardships and dangers to go deep into the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau" and "let more people know about Tibetan mastiffs".
The long roar of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Taiwan's high-priced acquisitions, one Tibetan mastiff can withstand two golden leopards, the endangered precious dog breed... This story, full of oriental colors, was reprinted in newspapers in more than a dozen provinces. There are even media outlets that compare the comprehensive value of Tibetan mastiffs with national treasures such as giant pandas.
Under the overwhelming attack of the media, Tibetan mastiffs quickly became popular, and people from all over the country came to find Wang Zhankui to buy dogs.
In 1999, a 2-month-old juvenile Tibetan mastiff could sell for up to 50,000 yuan in China, and adult Tibetan mastiffs could sell up to 200,000 yuan. At this price, you can buy a suite in full in Beijing at that time.
The Tibetan mastiff, a dog breed, was brought to fire by Wang Zhankui. But the Tibetan mastiff really went to the altar, but it was the credit of another man.
In 2003, former Chinese track and field coach Ma Junren quit the athletics world to become president of the Chinese Tibetan Mastiff Club. Wang Zhankui was at the scene of the election.
The selection of Ma Junren as chairman is mainly based on his fame. Ma Junren, the former head coach of the Chinese athletics team, relied on stimulants to bring out a women's athletics dream team, which won gold medals many times, and the jianghu people called "Ma Jiajun".
Someone once analyzed that the reason why Ma Junren was able to flourish in that era mainly depended on two points:
Use nationalism to promote individual heroism.
These two "magic weapons" were also used by Ma Junren in the Tibetan mastiff circle. One of the words he often hangs on his lips is:
I raise Tibetan mastiffs, not because of lack of money, but because China has no place in the world dog industry, and Tibetan mastiffs should be the best dogs to count.
In interviews, he also often said:
"I, the Tibetan mastiffs, will go out to participate in world competitions in the future, and I will definitely be very prominent in terms of size, appearance, color, and canine nature in all aspects - winning the gold medal and winning the silver medal."
In Ma Junren's mouth, raising Tibetan mastiffs became glory for the country.
In 2005, China's first Tibetan Mastiff Exhibition opened in Langfang, Hebei Province, and Ma Junren brought 30 Tibetan mastiffs in one go, one of which was called "The Little Prince", and shouted 40 million yuan to it, shocking the whole country.
Ma Junren made a start, and some middlemen began to take advantage of the situation, raising the value of the Tibetan mastiff by constantly changing hands, attracting receivers who did not know the truth. Around 2008, there were countless exhibitions on Tibetan mastiffs, and some organizers tried to beautify Tibetan mastiffs by selecting various so-called "mastiff kings", and even evolved into:
One mastiff fights three tigers, three mastiffs sink aircraft carriers, five mastiffs fight gods, and ten mastiffs genesis.
Under the fiery publicity, the price of Tibetan mastiffs began to "fly":
In September 2007, a "mastiff king" settled in Wuhan with a price tag of 3.9 million yuan.
In 2010, a Tibetan mastiff named "Dadi" was transferred to Zibo, Shandong Province, and the transaction price was 10 million.
In December 2011, at a mastiff exhibition in Beijing, a Certain Qingdao Tibetan Mastiff was priced at 30 million yuan...
The Welcome of the Tibetan Mastiff by the Mercedes-Benz team mentioned at the beginning is also a classic epitome of this boom.
In October 2008, someone set up a ring in Wuhan to choose a concubine for his Tibetan mastiff. More than 20 female mastiffs "walked the catwalk" on the stage, and the final first place won to become the "princess", and the mastiff king was paired for free, the second place cost 50,000 yuan, and the third place was 80,000 yuan.
Despite such a high price, at that time, the number of the mastiff king's appointment breeding had been ranked for the second year, and the breeding price had increased to 250,000 yuan.
At that time, if you owned a purebred Tibetan mastiff, you could earn millions of dollars a year by the mating fee alone.
Through the hype of celebrities and merchants, Tibetan mastiffs, which originally lived mainly in Tibetan areas, began to be shipped to all parts of the country and became living printing machines.
3
Tibetan mastiff who was "plastic surgery"
Rising high prices and huge profits have also spawned some gray and bloody events.
There is a saying in the Tibetan mastiff circle that the Tibetan mastiff is divided into "original version" and "market version".
The "original version" of the Tibetan mastiff refers to the Tibetan mastiff that is bred in the traditional way, which is not much different from the original Tibetan mastiff in Tibetan areas, but the shape and form are more optimized. They are wild in nature and roar at the sight of strangers.
The "market version" is the modified Tibetan mastiff. It is not so much "transformation" as it is "plastic surgery".
According to Sanlian Life Weekly, as early as around 2005, Yushu's Tibetan mastiffs were fed:
Puppies that seem to have growth potential are carried to the baby's bib, directly perfused with a funnel of liquid milk residue, and can directly feed from more than 100 pounds to more than 200 pounds in adult weight, looking taller and more powerful.
Many Tibetan mastiffs were raised by feeding since childhood, and they are not very good at eating themselves. In order to eat more, some also have to work out on the treadmill.
What is even more cruel is that in order to make the Tibetan mastiff look stout, some mastiffs directly spray silicone on the legs and faces of the Tibetan mastiffs and inject water. Or give the dog sleeping pills and sleep all day long, which is convenient for growing fat.
Some are more exaggerated, even feeding the Tibetan mastiff hormones, injecting water, forcing the muscles to separate from the skin. A three-month-old Tibetan mastiff can pull out more than 30 centimeters of flesh.
After these techniques, coupled with years of hybridization, the "market version" of the Tibetan mastiff is hairy, like a big toy, docile and quiet.
Huge profits are seized by merchants, and the Tibetan mastiff is often left with a weak body. The lifespan of tibetan mastiffs is normally more than 10 years, but this kind of repeated modification, eating hormones and hitting silicone:
"Their lifespan is at most three or five years."
4
The bubble bursts, and the chicken feathers are all over the place
The bursting of the bubble came quickly.
Since 2013, the owners of various mastiff gardens have found that Tibetan mastiffs are not easy to sell.
That year, the Tibetan mastiff fever was fully ebbed, and tens of thousands of farms were cool. According to the data, in 2010, the annual transaction volume of Tibetan mastiffs in Qinghai was still more than 200 million yuan, and by 2015, only 50 million yuan was left; 2/3 of the 3,000 Tibetan mastiff breeding centers in Tibet were closed.
According to Zhou Yi, secretary general of the Qinghai Tibetan Mastiff Association, as far as he knows, there are nearly a hundred merchants who have invested tens of millions of dollars and have lost their money.
Why does the Tibetan mastiff fever fade? From the perspective of the basic principles of economics, this problem is well understood: supply and demand do not match, no one takes over, only to collapse.
From the supply side, when the Tibetan mastiff hype is in full swing, almost every Tibetan household will raise a few Tibetan mastiffs. Those farms are producing Tibetan mastiffs on a large scale.
When the Tibetan mastiff is no longer scarce, its value declines.
Look at the demand side. In 2012, the policy suddenly changed, and the high-end tobacco, alcohol and catering industries went into a depression and spread to the Tibetan mastiff industry, and officials were severely cracked down on their practice of collecting wealth by accepting Tibetan mastiffs.
More importantly, many Tibetan mastiff buyers have begun to find that the legendary Tibetan mastiff, which is "as big as a donkey, galloping like a tiger, and roaring like a lion", is not even as good as an ox, let alone compared with a tiger and a wolf.
Not only that, but the cost of raising Tibetan mastiffs is also very high. There were news reports that a man stole a 400,000 Tibetan mastiff home, and as a result, he was eaten poor for 8 months, and finally had to sell it for 1,000 yuan.
More people are selling, but fewer and fewer people are buying, and the bubble of Tibetan mastiffs is bursting.
In the sound of breaking, the Tibetan mastiff who was once held on the altar of the gods ended up even worse than the earth dog.
Those who are big farmers, in order to reduce losses, even sell Tibetan mastiffs as meat dogs at a price of several hundred yuan. In 2015, a dazzling news of "a million Tibetan mastiffs into hot pot ingredients" was lamentable.
More Tibetan mastiffs, abandoned in Tibetan areas. Beijing Youth Daily once wrote a report that there are more than 14,000 stray dogs in Guoluo Prefecture, Qinghai, with a population of only 170,000, most of which are Tibetan mastiffs.
Homeless Tibetan mastiffs roam between temples, streets and villages. They attack passers-by, infect diseases, hunt livestock, compete with snow leopards for food, and even stage tragedies of mutual eating.
As early as 2016, when an 8-year-old girl in Nangqian went to the toilet, she was bitten to death by a female dog with a puppy. A data from the Tibet Autonomous Region Center for Disease Control and Prevention once showed that an average of 180 people were bitten by stray dogs every month.
Stray Tibetan mastiffs also pollute grasslands and water sources through dog droppings, which in turn infects the human body with echinococcosis known as "insect cancer", which is very difficult to treat and many herders lose their homes.
▲ Echinococcosis infection chain
The Tibetan mastiff, once known for its loyalty and bravery, has become a major disaster on the plateau. Look at the celebrities who shouted "protect the Tibetan mastiff", but touched the bulging wallet and fell silent.
After the Bubble of Tibetan Mastiffs burst, only a field of chicken feathers remained.
5
End
Standing on top of the chicken feathers in this place, looking back, the so-called "Tibetan Mastiff Fever" is actually a gamble.
People watch it, from investment to speculation, from speculation to gambling, and even to fraud.
Historically, such gambles are not new.
Tulips of the eighteenth century, Junzi orchid in the 1980s, golden turtle around 2016, Dayi tea in the past two years...
However, unlike other financial products, the bubble of Tibetan mastiffs burst, leaving a large number of "ecological sequelae" that are difficult to deal with.
History doesn't simply repeat itself, but it's always strikingly similar.
In the final analysis, hundreds of years have passed, times are changing, and human nature has never changed.
Behind every gamble is a group of people who are eager to get rich. Such a story will not disappear, and it will continue to be staged in the days to come. Because --
Human nature does not change, and capital never sleeps.