The Dragon is a mythological being with a long and rich history. We see marvelous Chinese Dragons in pictures, posters, paintings, and on the streets during Chinese festivals; they are widely known the world over.

It is not known when the Dragon originated, but many believe that its concept as well as the original symbolism was created during the time of the Yellow Emperor, Huang Di.There was a snake on his coat-of-arms and at the time of each victorious battle, he would add the symbol from his opponent's coat-of-arms to his own. That is how the Dragon came to be composed of attributes of many different creatures.

The Dragon is a product of Chinese culture and is composed of a variety of animals: it has the body of a snake, a fish tail and scales, deer antlers and eagles talons. It's face is that of another mysterious creature called a "gilin".

This combination of characteristics produces the impressive aesthetic of the dragon. According to some mythologies, the Dragon can fly.

Aside from China, other Asian cultures also claim the Dragon as a symbol, though it varies by the number of toes present on the dragon's feet. In China the Dragon has five toes, but it's said that as he travels, the Dragon starts losing toes as he traverses farther and farther away from home. It is believed that the Dragon can only travel as far as Japan or he would no longer have toes.

Dragons are associated with the number nine and multiples of nine. The number nine is a lucky number in Chinese culture, thus making the Dragon a symbol of luck. The number nine and its multiples are present in most pictures and representations of Chinese dragons.