WITH its big white ears, large liquid eyes, chubby body and bushy tail. Totoro, the star of Miyazaki Hayao's popular animated film "My Neighbor Totoro," is a dream pet for many animal lovers.

Totoro is a cartoon version of a chinchilla, and Huang Yaoxiong, 48, is in love with the little rodents that originally come from the Andes in South America.

In his Shanghai shop called Simpo Pet House, Huang sells chinchillas and -associated paraphernalia, including cages, grass mats, gnawing sticks, toys such as swings and springboards, and various foods, from hay and corn to snacks like raisins, seeds, cheese and dried fruit.

"I've been keeping various pets for over 10 years, and now I have two cats, two dogs, one chinchilla and one sugar glider, a type of possum, at home," Huang said. "Opening a pet shop has always been my dream."

"Chinchilla lovers here eventually will build organizations"

Last year, Huang launched a shop on Taobao.com, the eBay-style Chinese website popular for online auctions and shopping. Huang uploads pictures of his chinchillas and offers to send them to customers by express service.

"It introduces chinchillas to more people and attracts customers from other places -besides Shanghai," Huang said.

Chinchilla shops are mostly found in large cities in China, such as Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing and Guangzhou. It's still a relatively rare pet because of high prices. A first-time buyer needs to pay about 2,000 yuan for an ordinary chinchilla and related goods, including the cage, food and chew toys.

Huang, however, is brimming with optimism about the business. He plans to introduce sugar gliders, an indigenous Australian -marsupial, to his shop this summer to test the waters with customers.

"Compared with America and Japan, the China market for chinchillas has a lot of room to expand, creating a big opportunity," Huang said. "I believe chinchilla lovers here eventually will build organizations and hold competitions, like they do in the US and Canada."

Huang said he is hoping to open a pet company that will not only sell exotic pets such as chinchillas and sugar gliders, but also provide services such as training, pet-raising consultancy, animal medical care and organized events for animal lovers.

"An increasing number of young people in China are showing great interest in exotic pets, which are cute and easy to raise," Huang explained.

"These pets are such a nice way to relax at home. I think the pet -business is very promising in modern -cities such as Shanghai."

"Air cargo fees ... have been eating into my earnings"

The affectionate rodents' popularity shows no signs of abating. Dozens of chinchilla shops have sprung up across the city and more of the animals appeared on Internet sites. The price for one chinchilla has risen more than 40 percent.

In a much more competitive market, Huang manages to distinguish his shop from many others by providing a variety of choices for picky customers.

"I began to introduce more chinchillas with rare colors last year," Huang said. "Though they are more expensive than the standard gray ones, I can attract more customers and charge higher prices for the colorful chinchillas, which are hard to find in other places."

Beige and brown chinchillas sell for 2,500 yuan each in Huang's pet shop, and ones with a violet hue sell for about 3,000 yuan. Chinchillas with pure white or black fur can cost as much as 6,000 yuan.

Huang's only member of staff is He Dakai, a part-time waiter who shares a similar affection for the animals.

"As the business grows, I frequently need to go out and buy supplies or meet with clients," Huang said. "He takes good care of the shop when I go out."

He, 30, is normally a man of few words, but when it comes to dealing with customers, he opens up with a fount of information.

"Don't bath chinchillas in water because their dense fur prevents air-dying, and don't spoil them with too many raisins and seeds or they won't eat the healthy, hay-based diet they need," He tells customers.

Indeed, like any pets, chinchillas require care and attention. Agile jumpers, they need extensive exercise, and their teeth need to be worn down by gnawing on tough objects or they become overgrown. Chinchillas lack the ability to sweat, so they are prone to heat stroke at temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius. Their digestive tracts are sensitive, so owners have to be careful that they get the proper high-fiber diet.

Huang said his pet shop averages five or six customers a week who come in to buy -chinchillas or related goods. He earns between 5,000 yuan and 6,000 yuan a month, after -paying around 15,000 yuan for rent and salary, chinchillas and related products, and transport fees.

However, Huang said he is concerned about rising logistic costs.

"I've been doing business with a farm in northeast China since 2009 because their pure-blood chinchillas are of high quality," Huang said. "I usually buy 24 chinchillas every other month, and the air cargo fees to bring them to Shanghai have been steadily increasing over the past two years, which is eating into my earnings."

"I didn't sell any in the first two months..."

Two years ago, Huang took the first step toward realizing his dream. He quit his job with a private textile trading company and -started his own business in a pet bazaar on Caoyang Road.

His initial investment amounted to 80,000 yuan (US$12,167), including the lease, shop decor and the purchase of 24 chinchillas from a breeding farm.

"The market was filled with cats and dogs, whose prices kept falling due to competition," Huang said. "So I concentrated on chinchillas as I figured they'd be popular in the future."

Many Westerners associate chinchillas with the luxury coats made from their prized fur. The international trade in chinchilla fur dates back centuries and threatened the animals' existence in the wild. Hunting them is now illegal, though not completely eliminated, and the fur industry relies on farm-bred animals.

The chinchilla was still relatively unknown in China back in 2009 when Huang began buying the animals from a farm in northeast China and selling them as pets.

"I didn't sell any in the first two months," Huang said. "People couldn't understand why such a mouse-like animal would cost more than 1,000 yuan."

Besides showcasing the animals themselves, Huang also engaged curious customers with his experience of raising them. Customers who pick them up are taken with the animals' gentleness and velvety fur, he said.

Sales began to grow steadily.

"I didn't post any advertisement," Huang recalled. "Chinchillas as pets simply spread by word of mouth. Many people came to the pet shop on the recommendation of friends who had bought chinchillas from me."