A foreign tourist is taking a photo of the engraving of Chinese dragon in Qianmen, a famous business street in Beijing, during the Spring Festival of 2012.
2012年春节期间，一名外国游客在北京前门商业街拍摄中国的龙纹饰。

The year 2012 is also the Year of the Dragon according to the Chinese lunar calendar. The mighty and mythical creature appears in many legends and fairytales around the world. However, different cultures produced various types of dragons with distinctive features. The Chinese dragon is a far different beast from its Western counterparts.

In all the cultures, the dragon combines parts from different animals, such as a snake's body and large, powerful claws. Sometimes, it has features such as a strong body covered with scales, a head with horns or ruffles, sharp teeth and a long tail. Most of the Western dragons have wings and breathe fire.

"Drache" means "dragon" in German. It is derived from "draco" in Latin and "drakon" in Greek, which both mean "snake." In the Western cultures, Dragon is regarded as an evil being, a destroyer and a transmitter of disasters, making it the enemy of everything in the world. The dragons are always killed by brave heroes in Western folktales.

In North European and the Germanic Culture, dragon-slayer Siegfried is such a hero. In "The Song of the Nibelungs," an epic poem in Middle High German, he killed a dragon and then bathed in its blood, which rendered him invulnerable.

However, the Chinese dragon is an auspicious creature. In the ancient times, the dragon was the symbol of imperial power. Even today, as a magical creature beloved by the people, it still represents wealth, wisdom, success, power and good fortune. Chinese people proudly claim that they are the descendants of the dragon. The dragon also often appears in the publications of Western media as the symbol of China.

In fact, dragons have become positive characters in many Western music dramas and children literary works, such as Tabaluga, a cartoon character created by German Rock musician Peter Maffay, and Grisu, a young dragon in an Italian story.

Nowadays, most Europeans understand that dragon is a lucky creature in China, and it is one of the 12 Chinese Zodiac Signs. Chinese dragon is kind, friendly and even humorous, instead of a harbinger of evil and misfortune.

(China.org.cn by Xu Lin February 7, 2012)

2012年是中国农历的龙年。龙是神话中的强大生物，在全世界流传着很多关于龙的故事和传说。然而，在不同文化中，龙的特征有着明显的区别。中国龙与西方龙就是两种完全不同的生物。

所有文化中的龙都是多种动物的集合体，比如蛇的身躯和威力巨大的爪子。有时候，它拥有强壮的躯干、锋利的牙齿和长长的尾巴，身披鳞片，头上长着角或皱褶。西方文化中的龙大多肋生双翅，并且会喷火。

德语中的“龙”（drache）来源于拉丁语中的“draco”以及希腊语中的“drakon”，这两个词的本义都是“蛇”。在西方文化中，龙被看作是一种邪恶的生物；它毁灭一切、传播灾难，是世间万物的大敌。在西方民间故事中，恶龙最终都会被勇敢的英雄杀死。

在日耳曼和北欧文化中，屠龙者齐格弗里德就是这样一个大英雄。在中古高地德语史诗《尼伯龙根之歌》中，他杀死了一头巨龙，并以龙血沐浴，从此刀枪不入。

但在中国，龙是一种吉祥的生物。在中国古代，龙被视为皇权的象征。直到现在，龙仍然是备受尊崇的神物，代表着财富、智慧、成功、权力以及幸运。中国人自豪地宣称他们是龙的子孙。西方媒体也经常把龙用作中国的标志。

事实上，西方已经有许多音乐剧和儿童文学作品开始选择龙作为正面的角色，比如德国摇滚歌手彼得•曼菲创作的音乐剧《绿色小神龙Tabaluga》，还有意大利儿童文学作品中的小龙Grisu。

如今，大多数欧洲人都知道龙在中国是一种吉祥的生物，也知道龙是中国的十二生肖之一。在这个背景下，中国龙不再被视为邪恶和灾难的象征，而是被看作善良、友好，甚至有趣的存在。