Wealthy Chinese have been snapping up contemporary art, top wines and some the world's most expensive cars. Now they're adding pigeons to their must-have list.

A Chinese shipping magnate recently spent 250,400 euros ($328,000) for a Dutch pigeon, a new world record according to Pipa, the firm that ran the online auction.

These aren't your ordinary birds that eat scraps in the park but ones bred for the arcane sport of pigeon racing, which has a cult following in England, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and, increasingly, China.

The buyer, Hu Zhen Yu, runs Zhenyu Holding Group in Wenzhou. He told Pipa that he wants to 'focus more and more on the pigeon sport.' Zhenyu last year sponsored a pigeon race in Wenzhou that awarded 7 million yuan ($1.1 million) in prize money.

Pigeon racing has traditionally been a rural pastime, and the entrance of wealthy Chinese hobbyists is ruffling some feathers. The Telegraph quoted veterans of the sport complaining about the high bids and loss of the birds to another continent.

'We must not forget pigeon racing is a simple sport to be enjoyed by all who wish to become involved for the right reasons,' Ken Ambler, a pigeon fancier who took up the sport 70 years ago, wrote in a comment on Pipa's auction announcement.

Jason Chow

• wealthy [´welθi] a.富有的；丰富的 (初中英语单词)
• expensive [ik´spensiv] a.费钱的，昂贵的 (初中英语单词)
• shipping [´ʃipiŋ] n.船运业；船舶(总数) (初中英语单词)
• pigeon [pidʒin] n.鸽子 (初中英语单词)
• telegraph [´teligrɑ:f] n.&v.(打)电报；电告 (初中英语单词)
• comment [´kɔment] n.&v.评论；评注；注意 (初中英语单词)
• contemporary [kən´tempərəri] a.&n.同时代的(人) (高中英语单词)
• belgium [´beldʒəm] n.比利时 (高中英语单词)
• increasingly [in´kri:siŋli] ad.日益，愈加 (英语四级单词)
• auction [´ɔ:kʃən] n.&vt.拍卖 (英语四级单词)
• holding [´həuldiŋ] n.保持，固定，存储 (英语六级单词)