M: This picture we see here is of a very traditional Chinese dragon.

V:I'm sorry, but this dragon looks friendly unlike Western dragons which are fierce. Why?

M：Why? Well, in China dragons are not seen in the same way as in England. For example, they are not evil, but lucky.

V: Lucky, in what way?

M: Did you know we also connect dragons with the number 9? And 9 for us is a very lucky number.

V: In Western countries 7 is usually lucky and we think 13 is unlucky, but I don't think we have any special feeling about 9.

M: Although we don't know the exact origins, we are sure they predate history. We can find them in literature, poems, songs and architecture.

V: So they are very important to Chinese people. Right ?

M: Yes, they are part of our conscience.

V: In this display the clothing is decorated with dragons. Why are they so significant?

M: This is an imperial dragon robe from the Qing Court. We also have a very famous Dragon Dance which dates back to the Song dynasty, and nowadays the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated internationally.

V:  Yes, last year I was in Chinatown in London and we saw the dancing, but also a special type of boat race.

M: Yes, a Dragon Boat race. It is celebrated during the 5th month of the Chinese lunar calendar. It commemorates a great poet called Qu Yuan.

V: OK. So where else do we 6nd dragons?

M: Well, there are many famous Chinese stories about the dragon. There is even a famous Chinese idiom " Lord Ye's Love of Dragons" ,  which means an apparent love of something one really fears.

V: Really? What's the story behind the idiom?

M: Lord Ye had a fascination about dragons. He had dragons everywhere and he was thinking about dragons all the time.  His love of dragons moved a real dragon, so the dragon came to visit him one day. When he saw the real dragon, he was frightened to death.

V: So you do agree that dragons can be scary, then?

M: For Lord Ye, yes!