悠闲养鸽人遭遇百亿赛鸽潮

本文格式为Word版，下载可任意编辑——悠闲养鸽人遭遇百亿赛鸽潮谭云飞

Withbigmoneyinvadingpigeon-racing，hobbyistswonderaboutthefutureoftheirtime-honoredsport.

Sincetheearlyafternoon，HouYong（pseudonym）hasbeenwatchingtheskyforthereturnofoneofhis50racingpigeonsasitfindsitswayhomefromnearly700kilometersawayinapigeonraceonApril29.

Thepreviousmorning，the60-year-oldBeijingresidenthadbroughtthe2-year-oldbirdtotheGuanganGymnasiumashissoleentrytotheBeijingXichengDistrictRacingPigeonAssociation（BXDRPA）.There，thebirdand1，181ofitsfellowracerswereloadedintonine-layeredmetalcagesonatruckandtransportedtoaparkinglotinZhoukou，Henanprovince，wheretheywerereleasedatprecisely6：08a.m.thefollowingdaytoflybacktotheirrespectivehomesinBeijing.

Assoonaseachracingpigeonlandsontheelectronicpadatthedoorofitshome，achipembeddedinitsfootringautomaticallysendsitstimeofarrivalanditsownersaddresstotheraceorganizer，downtotheexactmillisecond.WhenTWOCspoketoHouat4：30p.m.，over100birdshadalreadyreturnedhome，withthefastestarrivingat3：08p.m.—havingtakenexactlyninehourstocompletethetripatanaveragespeedof71.3kilometersperhour.

“Toraceistheonlymeaningofraisingthesepigeons，〞JinBing（pseudonym），anotherBeijingpigeonracerinhis50s，declarestoTWOC.“Thejoyofkeepingracingpigeonsliesintheirinstinctivehomingabilityevenwhentheyretransportedhundredsofkilometersaway.〞

Butitsbecominganincreasinglypriceysporttopursue.Overthelastcentury，pigeonracinghastransformedfromasimplehobbyintoabusinessworthbillionsofRMB，openingthedoortocorruptionandorganizedcrime.AccordingtoChineseRacingPigeon，abi-monthlymagazinepublishedbytheChineseRacingPigeonAssociation（CRPA），theprizemoneyofallpigeonracesinChinain2022alonetotaledover28.1billionRMB.AsingleracecangenerateapoolofbillionsofRMBinprizemoney，andaprizewinningpigeoncansellformillions.Achampionpigeonina2022auctioninBeijingfetching22millionRMB.

Chinahasalonghistoryofbreedingpigeons，initiallyforfoodduringtheZhoudynasty（1046–256BCE），andlaterascouriersforlettersandmilitarycorrespondenceintheSui（581–618）andTang（618–907）dynasties.AChineseidiomforsendingletters，飛鸽传书，literallytranslatesto“flyingpigeonsdeliveringletters.〞Pigeon-racingwasfirstrecordedinthe1640swhen，accordingtoChineseRacingPigeonmagazine，so-called“pigeon-releasemeetings〞wereheldinFoshan，Guangdongprovince，withprizemoneyawardedforthefastestbirds.IntheQingdynasty（1616–1911）keepingpigeonsandotherpetbirdsfortheirlooksandcharmingcooswaspopularamongthenobilityandtherichinthecapital—ahobbyknownas“carryingthecageanddisplayingthebirds（提笼架鸟），〞stillpopularenoughtoremainastaplesightinBeijingshutongsrightuptotoday.

ChinasNationalSportsCommissionrecognizedpigeon-racingasasportin1961，butduringtheCulturalRevolutionfrom1966to1976，racingwassuspendedduetopromoting“idleness〞and“capitalistlifestyle.〞Today，though，thesportthrives：

Therewereover10，000pigeonracesheldperyearfrom2022to2022.Asof2022，therewere400，000registeredpigeonbreedersinChinaandover25millionfootringsissuedthatyear，overhalfoftheglobaltotal，HuangJian，deputypresidentoftheCRPA，toldChinaNewsweekmagazinelastNovember.TheCRPA，anon-profitNGOthathasregulatedthesportsince1984，nowhas33provincialbranches，andover1，600associationsacrossChinaincludingtheBXDRPA，whichHoubelongsto.

Thehobbyrequiresseriousdedication.Jin，whousedtokeep200to300birdsbeforecuttingdownto50duetohisage，startseachdaybyattendingtohispigeonsataround6a.m.：

releasingthem，cleaningtheloftwheretheyroost，andthenfeedingthebirdsandcleaningagainwhentheyreturntwotothreehourslater.

Hou，whoconsidershimselfanovice，releasesandfeedshispigeonsonlyonceaday，thoughthisstilltakeshimfourtofivehourseachafternoon.Intheeveningbeforegoingtobed，healsoreturnstothelofttotendtotheirneeds.“Itrequiresmoreeffortthantakingcareofchildren，〞hesays，explainingthatbreedersneedtokeepaneyeoneveryunusualmovement.Commonintestinaltroublesmaycostapigeonslife，andevenwhencured，thebirdmayneverraceagain.

InJulyandAugust，priortotheautumnracingseasonthatusuallyspansSeptembertoNovember，pigeonstakepartinextratrainingsessions.Houdrivesthepigeons30to100kilometersawayeverydayandopenstheircages，andthebirdsimmediatelyflybackhome.

“Allpigeonbreedersdreamofwinningachampionship，〞GuoZhanfa，anationalpigeon-racingjudgeandheadjudgeoftheBXDRPA，tellsTWOC.Headmits，though，thatthismayremainadreamformanybreedersdespitealifetimeseffort，becauseapigeonraceisfullofuncertainty.“Itrequiresfavorableclimatic，geographical，andhumanconditions.〞

Theconditionsaremany：

well-bredandtrainedpigeons，favorableweather，andnotrunningintopredatorsor“bird-nappers〞（peoplewhonetracingpigeonstosell）alongtheway.Ancestryisconsideredoneofthemostimportantfactors.“PigeonswithEuropeanbloodlines，suchasBelgianandDutchones，whicharelargerandstronger，areconsideredbetterthandomesticones，〞saysGuo，whowasunwillingtosplurgeonEuropeanpigeons.Instead，heborrowedtheirdescendantsfromhisfriendstobreedwith.

However，evenamatchofthebestavailablepigeonscannotguaranteegooddescendants.“Youjustneedtotry，toseeiftheirgenesandbloodgowelltogether.Sometimes，youcanonlyfindoutwhetheritworkedonraceday，〞Guopointsout.

Meanwhile，eventhebestpigeonmayfallvictimtobird-nappers，wholatercontacttheiroriginalownersforransommoneyorsellthemononlineplatformslikeKuaishou.ThesepigeonsaresoldfortenstothousandsofRMB，basedonthespecies，accordingtoHou.

Sincehedoesnothavetimetotrainhispigeonshimself，Guofocuseson“OneLoft〞racesorganizedbyclubs，aformintroducedfromEuropeintotheChinesemainlandviaTaiwaninthe1990s.Intheseraces，keepersregisterandsubmitpigeonsataround40daysoldinthespringfortheorganizerstoraiseandtrainbyautumn.Eventhen，winningisbigmoney：

OneofGuosbirdswon80，000RMBina2022race，aroundtwicetheaverageannualincomeofaBeijingresidentatthetime，andthatwasjustthethirdprize.

Sincethen，though，itsgrownincreasinglyhardforGuospigeonstoswoopontothewinninglist.“TherearemoreandmoreimportedpigeonsfromEurope，andminecantcompetewiththem，〞Guoexplains.HehasheardthatsomeracersspendmillionsofyuanrentingaloftinthesuburbsinBeijingtoraiseandtraintheirbirds.

NikolaasGyselbrecht，CEOoftheauctionwebsitePigeonParadiseinBelgium，toldTheNewYorkTimeslastNovemberthat50percentofthecompanysannualvolumeofbusiness，totalingabout50millionUSD，wasfromChina，andheexpectedpricestorise.Forinstance，therulesofKaierInternationalCharityOneLoftRacein2022（whichchargesanentryfeeof16，800RMBperbird），showedtheprizemoneypooltotaled1billionRMB，andthetop10winnerscantakehomebetween1and6millionRMB.Birdsplacedfrom11thto600thplacecanearn100，000RMB.

Butracerssaythatthebigmoneyliesnotintheraceitself，butin“designation.〞Inadditiontoprizemoney，pigeonracerscanpayanextrafeerangingfromseveralhundredto20，000RMBto“designate〞theirbirdsandwinmoneybackfromthepooldependingonhowtheirpigeonsplace—similartobettinginahorserace，exceptracerscanonlywagerontheirownbirds.“Thisisactuallygambling，〞saysJin，theBeijingracer，whoclaimsaround70percentofpigeonracersbetmoneyinthesecompetitions.

ZhuQiji，presidentoftheBXDRPAwhohadbeenasportofficialforover20years，hassimilarconcerns.“Thereisnoboundaryifthesportisorientedaroundgambling，〞hepointsout，callingformoregovernmentalregulationsandsupervision.

Thematterisbecomingurgent，asthehighstakeshaveinvitedcrimeandfraud.Ina700-kilometerpigeonraceheldbytheShanghaiRacingPigeonAssociationinMay2022，twomentrainedtheirbirdsoneyearinadvancetoflytoaloftnearthereleasesiteinHenan.There，thebirdswereputinmilkcartons，andtakenbyhigh-speedtrainbacktoShanghaitobereleasedneartheirhomeloft.Theywonthefirstfourplacesandprizemoneythattotaledover3millionRMB—butthemenwerefinedandgivensuspendedthree-yearprisonsentencesaftertheorganizersdiscoveredtheircon.

Evenraceorganizerscanbeguiltyofdirtytricks.InJune2022，tomakeupfortheshortfallbetweenthetotalentryfeesof1.5millionRMBandtheannouncedprizemoneyof3.88millionRMB，theorganizerofaOneLoftraceinAnhuiprovinceselected300pigeonsbelongingtohisownacquaintances，aswellassomestrays，andreleasedthemtwodaysearlierthantheotherentrantsinthehopeofnotforkingouttheprizemoney.Otherorganizershavebeenreportedforusingfakefootringstomanipulateraceresults.

AccordingtoZhu，fixedracescanlargelybepreventedifassociationjudgesarepresenttosupervisethewholeprocessfromregistrationofthebirdstotallyingtheraceresults，whichisnotmandatoryatpresent.IftheCRPAoritssubordinatechaptersarenotinvolvedinarace，manyclubssimplysettheirownrules.Hethinksthatthesportsbureauandcivilaffairsbureaucanalsogetinvolvedinregulatingpigeonclubs.“Pigeonraceclubsandcompaniesmayoperatesimplywithabusinesslicensefromtheindustrialandcommercialbureau，〞helaments.“ThereistoomuchworkfortheCRPAtodo.〞

“Only5percentof[racing]pigeonkeepersearnmoneyand5percentbreakeven，buttheremaining90percentjustlosemoney，〞Jinclaims.Guoestimateshespentaround40，000RMBonhis100pigeonsforexpenseslikefood，medicine，andraceentryfeeslastyear，butthetotalprizeshewinstypicallyonlyamountstotheentryfeesfortheyear.

ThoseproblemsdonotseemtobotherHou.Withalimitedbudget，theretireeiscontentwithsmall-stakesracesorganizedbytheBXDRPA，withentryfeesof15to30RMBperbirdbasedontheracedistance.

Athisfriendssuggestion，heregisteredwiththeBXDRPAtoparticipateinracesin2022.Butbeforethat，pigeonshadalreadybeenapartofhislifefordecades—hegothisfirsttwobirdsasagiftfromaneighborinhishutonginelementaryschool.

Now，hereadsbooksonpigeon-keeping，watchesvideosbyexperiencedtrainersonKuaishou，andexchangesbreedingpigeonswithtrustedfriends.Hessadwhenhispigeonsgetlostorhurtduringtrainingandraces.“Sometimestheyre