People are attracted as soon as a Tibetan mastiff named "Ares" hits the stage. The dog is worth over 10 million yuan, or some 1.3 million US dollars. [Photo: cnsphoto]

The first national Tibetan mastiff exhibition was held on Wednesday in Jinjiang of southeast China's Fujian Province, with over two hundred rare Tibetan mastiffs travelling from across the country to make their debut.

The exhibition is aimed at publicizing the idea of protecting the rare dog species and promoting the breeding of true-bred Tibetan mastiffs.

The activity attracted some 600 Tibetan mastiff fans from across the country.

The China News Service reports that some Tibetan mastiffs at the show were worth over 10 million yuan, or some 1.3 million US dollars.

Evaluations were to be conducted during the exhibition to identify whether the dogs were blue bloods.

The Tibetan mastiff is a rare, very large ancient breed of dog originating in what is now Tibet. There are currently only 300 purebred Tibetan mastiffs around the world and, like the Panda, are currently listed as an endangered species in China.

1

2