[4] The shar pei was once very popular, but war and political turmoil in China in the 20th century took its toll on the breed and by the 1970s it was close to extinction.

[2][3][5] The resultant publicity led to great demand in the United States for examples of the breed, and unscrupulous breeders in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan took to crossing their remaining purebred animals with other breeds including the bull terrier, pug and bulldog, and selling the offspring to unwitting American buyers.

[2] Standing to a maximum 40 centimetres (16 in), the miniature shar pei is bred for both for its smaller size and increased wrinkles.

[7] Adult shar peis typically stand between 44 and 51 centimetres (17 and 20 in) and weigh between 16 and 20 kilograms (35 and 44 lb), they have a short, very harsh coat that can be any solid colour except white, although black, red, fawn and cream are the most common.

[5][8] The Chinese breed standard states they have clam-shell ears, butterfly nose, melon-shaped head, grandmotherly face, water buffalo neck, horse's buttocks and dragon's legs.

[5][8] The breed has straight, well boned, muscular legs below sloping shoulders and a medium length broad tail that is curled over their back in a manner typical of spitz-type dogs.

[14] Shar Pei fever can result in renal and liver failure through accumulation of amyloid in those organs (amyloidosis).

Affected Shar Pei have an elevated level of interleukin 6, and this leads to an accumulation of acute phase proteins in the body during the fevers.

The acute phase proteins are broken down to form type AA amyloid, which deposits in the kidneys and less so in the liver, spleen, and gastrointestinal tract.

This condition can be fixed by surgery—"tacking" up the eyelids so they will not roll onto the eyeball for puppies, or surgically removing extra skin in adolescent and older shar peis.