A Chinese man reportedly forked out a whooping $1.9 million for a one-year old puppy assumed to have 'lion's blood,' reports NY Daily News.

Citing Qianjiang Evening News, the NY Daily News report says that the buyer was a 56-year old property developer from Qingdao. Citing the same source, the New York Post notes that the 56-year old buyer hopes to breed dogs himself. No other information regarding the buyer has been released by the Chinese newspaper.

The Tibetan mastiff puppy, which is reportedly a year old, stands 31 inches tall, the dog's breeder, Zhang Gengyun told Qianjiang Evening News. The golden-haired puppy weighs about 200 pounds.

According to Zhang Gengyun, getting a pure breed Tibetan mastiff is quite rare, hence the staggering price. "Pure Tibetan mastiffs are very rare, just like our nationally treasured pandas, so the prices are so high," he said.

"They have lion's blood and are top-of-the-range mastiff studs," Zhang Gengyun added.

The 12 million yuan-priced puppy was only one of the pets sold at a "luxury pet" fair Tuesday in the eastern province of Zhejiang as reported by the Chinese newspaper. The New York Post says that another red-haired dog was sold for $968,209 or 6 million yuan.

The Tibetan mastiff has been hailed as one of the '7 Ridiculously Expensive Cat and Dog Breeds' by mnn.com, along with the Egyptian pharaoh hound, the Savannah cat, the Canadian Eskimo dog, the Khao Manee cat, the Löwchen and the Bengal cat.

The breed is defined as an "aloof and watchful guardian" by the American Kennel Club. "Primarily a family and property guardian, the breed was traditionally kept confined during the day, then let loose at night. They were left behind to guard the tents and families when the flocks were moved to higher pasture," the AKC describes the Tibetan mastiff breed.

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