Loong is an odd words from China, it means Chinese Dragon. The Chinese dragon is a Chinese mythical creature, it is different with the western dragon. Loong depicted as a long, scaled, snake-like creature with four claws.

In contrast to the Western dragon which stands on four legs and which is usually portrayed as evil, but the Chinese dragon has long been a potent symbol of auspicious power in Chinese folklore and art.

There are many dragon cultural references, I find 4 cultural references are interesting, and later, I will blogging the Chinese Zodiac here.

1. Chinese Zodiac

The dragon is one of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac which is used to designate years in the Chinese calendar. It is thought that each animal is associated with certain personality traits. Dragon years are usually the most popular to have babies. There are more babies born in Dragon years than in any other animal years of the Zodiac.

2. Dragon Boat Race

At special festivals, especially the Duan Wu festival, dragon boat races are an important part of festivities. Typically, these are boats rowed by a team of up to 12 rowers, and with a carved dragon as the head of the boat. Dragon boat racing is also an important part of celebrations outside of China, such as at Chinese New Year.

3. Dragon dancing

On auspicious occasions, including Chinese New Year and the opening of shops and residences, festivities often include dancing with dragon puppets. These are "life sized" cloth-and-wood puppets manipulated by a team of people, supporting the dragon with poles. They perform choreographed moves to the accompaniment of drums and music.

4. Dragons and Tigers

Tigers have always been an eternal rival to the dragon, thus various artworks depict a dragon and tiger fighting an epic battle, dragon tiger gate. A well used Chinese idiom to describe equal rivals (often in sports nowadays) is "Dragon versus Tiger". In Chinese martial arts, "Dragon style" is used to describe styles of fighting based more on understanding movement, while "Tiger style" is based on brute strength and memorization of techniques.