The Chinese New Year is upon us, and 2012 is the Year of the Dragon in Chinese Astrology. The dragon is the only mythical animal in the Chinese zodiac, and is a symbol of good fortune and power.
According to legend, the dragon body is made up of nine other animals. Since I don’t have any photos of a living dragon, then I thought that it might make for an interesting photo-post to show all the living animals from which the mythical dragon is formed.
Head of a Camel:
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Neck of a Snake:
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Scales of a Fish:
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Horns of a Deer:
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Ears of a Bull:
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Stomach of a Clam:
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Paws of a Tiger:
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Claws of an Eagle:
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Eyes of a Rabbit:
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Happy Chinese New Year!
Learned something new. Lovely photos.
I had no idea! The camel pic is awesome by the way 🙂 Very intimidating! I was in China early January and am sorry I missed the Chinese New Year celebrations. It was fun seeing all the stores gearing up for it though. Beautiful red and golden decorations started to come up before we left. And flowers everywhere!
9 different animals, eh? Interesting. Great shots!
Eww – you actually had to get that close to that many snakes? You're very brave!
The snakes, and the rabbit, were both photographs taken in China. The water snakes are kept live in a bucket at the street market until they are “butchered” for food. You don't want to see those pictures! And the bunny was enjoying the Stone Forest in Kunming. Happy to not be food!
Awesome photos, as always. Happy Chinese New Year!
Happy Chinese New Year to you and yours! That snake pic is disgusting haha (Dropping by from the Budget Travelers Sandbox Travel Photo Thursday)
You got that close to a tiger? Wow – they are so beautiful and so endangered. We spent a day in India in a reserve, trying to spot one, but no luck.Shari
Fun! I love animals, so I enjoyed this look at the body of the dragon. The tiger is beautiful.
Hi Shari! Yes, we got lucky for that one – it was the end of our second day in the park and we'd all but given up. Then, it just decides to appear right in front of us as we headed back to camp! I'm back in India now, as a matter of fact, and will be looking for tigers again at Ranthambore next week. If I get any better or closer, I'll be sharing them here!