Pekingese These dogs are also called Dogs of Foo (or Fu) by the Chinese and they were considered a guardian spirit as they resembled Chinese lions. Interestingly, the lion is not indigenous to China. When Buddhist travelers, probably out to trade, brought stories about lions to China, Chinese sculptors modeled statues of lions after the travelers’ descriptions–and after native dogs, since no one in China had seen a lion with his or her own eyes. The mythic version of the animal was originally introduced to Han China as the Buddhist protector of dharma