Top spots in China to find Chinese-style dragons
An upsurge looking for Chinese-style dragons, known as loong, and loong elements is sweeping the young Chinese generation, a report revealed.
As a divine beast, the Chinese dragon exists only in legends as a creature composed of features from a number of animals, such as deer antlers, a camel head, rabbit eyes, a snake neck and fish scales. It is an auspicious symbol of power and a totem of the Chinese nation.
From an ancient tribal totem and royal symbol to a cultural element representing Chinese and the belief in gaining good luck by touching the head of the creature, the popularity has led to more than 600,000 searches and views of destinations and attractions related to loong since January 1, with more than 10,000 travelers sharing their experience in "looking for loong," travel review website Mafengwo revealed based on its statistics.
Loong elements appear at the Imperial Palace.
The post-1990-and-2000 generation has accounted for 59.2 percent of loong searches.
Museums are the most popular venues to look for loong and loong elements.
A jade dragon, a must-see at the National Museum of China; a turquoise dragon-shaped artifact at the Chinese Archaeological Museum; and a "jade pig-dragon," a unique jade artifact from the Hongshan Culture, dating back 5,000 to 6,500 year; are the favorite dragon artifacts among the young people searching, according to the report.
The number of posts related to the Chinese Archaeological Museum has grown 340 percent from the same period last year, it said.
Tourist attractions with names containing the word dragon also triggered a tourism boom with the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Yunnan Province, Longji Terrace in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Mount Longhu (Dragon and Tiger) in Jiangxi Province the most popular natural scenic spots with dragon elements.
A "dragon farmland" in Anshun, Guizhou Province, is popular with visitors.
The popularity of a "dragon farmland" in the shape of a dragon palace in Anshun, Guizhou Province, surged 244 percent from the same period in 2023.
The Imperial Palace where the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihedian) is adorned with more than 13,000 dragons is the most popular cultural attraction.
The search scope has expanded overseas with the number of posts regarding Komodo National Park soaring 320 percent.
Travelers also flock to Longyan in Fujian Province to watch the intangible cultural heritage of the bench dragon dance, a folk custom, and the Weifang Kite Festival to admire the flight of dragon-head kites.
"China's splendid culture and folk customs provide an endless source of creativity for the innovation of new touring ways," said Wang Xiaoxue, a tourism analyst. "The lift of cultural confidence among the young generation is becoming the new growth point of the development of tourism industry."
