​This year, a Tibetan Mastiff puppy reportedly sold for almost £1.3 million in China, making it the priciest dog ever purchased. 

Originally domesticated as sheepherding guard dogs in the Tibetan Plateau, these large, puffy­-haired, and extremely uncooperative canines are prized by wealthy Chinese for their alleged ferociousness (one zoo even tried to pass a Tibetan Mastiff off as a lion, ​according to some reports). Over the past decade, Tibetan Mastiffs have become a status symbol for a growing class of new­ moneyed entrepreneurs. VICE China went to the the 2014 Yidu Tibetan Mastiff Fair in Tianjin to learn more.