You can tell a lot about a place from its dogs!

There are many differences between cities of differing socio-economic capabilities. But one that I recently observed and that may not be as well known as GDP, unemployment rates, infant birth rates, drop out rates, etc is pure breed vs. mixed breed dogs. Here in Jiaxing I have only seen a couple of shi tzus and pekinese being walked on their leashes by their middle aged owners. I have not noticed young people with dogs. The remaining dogs I have seen have been muts, mixes, and worst of all (to Americans) feral. Jiaxing is full of homeless canines. It breaks my heart. I want to take every dog without a collar to my apartment and feed it, bathe it and let it know that it is loved. But that would be overwhelming, slightly impossible and more than slightly expensive. I have asked my chinese friends if China has "Dog Catchers" and they said "What do you mean? What this thing that catches dog?" From their response I could tell that China doesn't.
But, I have also seen the other side of this canine conundrum. I flew to Shenzhen and Hong Kong to transfer my tourist Visa to a work Visa (Chinese Green Card). Shenzhen is a city born in the last twenty years from a special economic declaration and development. It has grown from a rinky dink farming trade post to a ultra-modern city of more than 5 million people. Talk about growth! Well, in Shenzhen there are many well-to-do people. I was at the Starbuck's Monday evening around 10pm and its was packed. All these rich folk have alot of leisure time, I assumed. But then it happened. Two gorgeous pure bred Huskies came walking along the promenade. They stopped in front of the shop and let their owner get a coffee. They were the center of attention! Everyone was eyeing them and ooo-ing and ahh-ing. They were really pretty. Then, all of a sudden, from underneath the table next to me, a fawn colored pekinese started barking. I didn't even see her until she barked. So well behaved! The Huskies payed her no mind - too cool for school! Then to my delight, two Westies showed up, then a big white puff ball of a dog came along (its official name escapes me). The Starbucks' veranda was an impromptu dog run! I was very happy! Dogs rule!!
So I started to think about the differences between Jiaxing and Shenzhen. Jiaxing is a manufacturing/factory town of about 500k in the city and four million in the district. Shenzhen is a financial services/IT/Fashion prodution city of 5 million with Hong Kong next door (8 million) and Guangzhou (4-5 million) just down the highway. The point is - the financially more developed regions have more pure bred dogs. And the converse may be true as well - the more pure bred dogs, the richer the city. Think about the US - NYC is almost all pure breeds and West Virginia has the reputation of...well, let's just say it doesn't have the same reputation as NYC.
See, travel really does broaden, enlighten, and educate. I'm smarter because of it, and now, so are you. So go get a dog - people will think your rich!
Chinese dogs are like orange juice - they're not just for breakfast anymore! They are economic bellweathers! Good dog! Yeah. Good dog!