Tourists experience paper cutting of the dragon in Beijing on Jan 20. (Photo by ZOU HONG/CHINA DAILY)

As Year of the Rabbit comes to a close, country welcomes in new sign of the zodiac

It is the symbol of Chinese nationality and of potent and auspicious powers. It has control over water, rainfall, hurricanes and floods. It is also the symbol of good luck. Chinese people have revered it for thousands of years.

It is the dragon.

And with the Lunar New Year approaching, the Year of the Dragon has arrived.

At the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year, people all around the country play with this mythical creature. They hang it in shopping centers, carry it on bamboo sticks in parades through the streets, carve its head onto boats which they race on ice and perform a dance named after it.

The dragon has lots of auspicious meanings. It is the harbinger of happiness and good fortune and has sublime connections to Chinese nationality.

Many people believe playing with a dragon brings good fortune.

A couple, wearing traditional costumes and holding a dragon-shaped handicraft, take photos outside the Deshou Palace, which doubles as the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) Deshou Palace Ruins Museum, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Jan 15. (Photo by HAN CHUANHAO/FOR CHINA DAILY)

Spring Festival Lanterns of the Year of the Dragon light up in Yu Garden, Shanghai, on Jan 21. The gorgeous lights show the spectacular scene of the Chinese dragon soaring and the prosperity of the glorious times. (Photo by GAO ERQIANG/CHINA DAILY)

People perform Drunken Dragon Dance in Zhongshan, Guangdong province, on Dec 24, 2023. Recognized as an item of China's national intangible cultural heritage, Drunken Dragon Dance originates from Changzhou village in Zhongshan. (Photo by JIANG DONG/CHINA DAILY)

People participate in an ice dragon boat race in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, on Jan 13. (Photo by LI XULUN/FOR CHINA DAILY)

An LED screen displays the image of a dragon in a shopping center in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Jan 24. (Photo by ZHANG CHANG/FOR CHINA DAILY)

Children, wearing festive costumes, welcome the arrival of the Year of the Dragon in Huangshan, Anhui province, on Jan 24. (Photo by SHI YALEI/FOR CHINA DAILY)

Seventy-four-year-old Wei Lamei welcomes the Lunar New Year with her hand-made dragon-shaped puppets in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, on Jan 25. (Photo by ZOU HONG/CHINA DAILY)

Source: China Daily

Editor: Tan Qikuan