This Dog Costs Just 20 Yuan at the Market—But No One Wants to Buy One

It goes by many names: the Chinese Village Dog, the Chinese Native Dog, or simply the Chinese Rural Dog.

For many people in China, though, it has another name: childhood.

When we were growing up, these dogs were everywhere. They followed us around the yard, played with us after school, and stood watch over our homes at night. We gave them names like Xiaobai, Heizi, and Dahuang—names that were as ordinary as the dogs themselves.

They didn’t need fancy pedigrees or fashionable names. They were simply part of the family.

Today, however, you can sometimes find one at a local dog market for just 20 yuan. And the strange part is that, even at that price, hardly anyone wants to take one home.

So what happened? Have Chinese Village Dogs somehow changed? Have they become less loyal, less useful, or less lovable?

Not at all.

They can still guard a home, adapt easily to everyday life, and form strong bonds with their families. What has changed is what people are looking for in a pet.

These days, many buyers are drawn to popular breeds with distinctive looks and familiar names—Huskies, Toy Poodles, Golden Retrievers, Samoyeds, and other breeds that have become increasingly popular as companion dogs.

And that difference was impossible to miss at one local dog market.

The photo above was taken by a visitor who recently went to a dog market near his home. He had decided that he was ready for a dog, so he spent the weekend walking around the market and looking at the different breeds.

What he saw left him feeling surprisingly sad.

The stalls selling Huskies and Toy Poodles were packed with people. Buyers crowded around the cages, asking questions and choosing their favorites.

But the stalls with Chinese Village Dogs were almost empty.

Curious, the visitor walked over and asked the seller how much the dogs cost.

The answer was just 20 yuan.

That was a fraction of what many of the other dogs cost. Yet despite the low price, almost nobody stopped to look at them.

The seller told him that selling Chinese Village Dogs had become increasingly difficult. Once these few dogs were gone, he said, he was planning to switch to more popular breeds.

The visitor looked at the dogs sitting quietly in their cages and couldn’t stop thinking about where they might end up—and how long they would have to wait for someone to choose them.

In the end, he decided to take one home.

He paid 20 yuan for the dog, but he didn’t take more simply because he knew he could only give one dog the time, space, and care it deserved.

He promised to take good care of his new companion and give it a happy home. He also said that if his circumstances allowed it in the future, he would come back and rescue more of the village dogs he had seen that day.

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