China - Dog breeds list

China, officially known as the People’s Republic of China is a sovereign state located in East Asia. Bordering countries include Burma, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Laos, Nepal, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Vietnam and Afghanistan. China has the largest population in the world with over 1.35 billion and is the third largest country measuring 9.6 million square kilometres.

There are 4 officially recognized dog breeds that originate in China. Two of them have a blue tongue, the Chow-Chow and the Shar-Pei, the only two breeds in the world with this characteristic. The Chow-Chow also known as Songshi Quan(puffy-lion dog) is considered to be one of the oldest breeds, being known for over 2000 years. This breed was very popular among the rich and famous during the Roaring Twenties. The Shar-Pei is another ancient breed that is mainly known for his distinctive rough coat and deep wrinkles a featured that helped him in dog fights. This breed was developed as a dog that’s good at everything but especially at fighting. The third breed that were going to talk about is the Pekingese, this little dog has been with us of over 2000 years and has hardly changed in all this time. It was very favoured by royalty as both a lap dog and companion dog and was often called a Lion Dog due to his resemblance to the Chinese guardian lion. The fourth breed developed in China is the Chinese Crested Dog which comes in two varieties with or without hair on their body also known as the Powder-Puff and the Hairless. It was thought that the heat produced by their bodies had medicinal properties and they were used to heat the painful parts of the body just like we use hot water bottles today.