Video: Dragon Hunt

Exploring a True Hidden Gem Close to Chengdu

National holidays are always a chaotic time of year to travel in China. Hundreds of millions of the working public get released for a fleeting, simultaneous moment. The Chinese idiom 人山人海 renshan renhai, ‘people-mountain, people-sea’ becomes the go-to term for describing train stations, parks, nature reserves and historical sites.

Not only did we visit 龙窝子Longwozi, ‘Dragon’s Lair’ during the May Day holiday, but it was the first May holiday since Covid controls were dropped. Major crowds were expected in Dragon’s Lair, but we managed to get in early and enjoy a quiet 24 hours of hiking in the hills, slipping around in the mud and getting lost in the woods before they showed up. This trip was intended as an easy warmup hike for more serious trekking on the Tibetan Plateau later in the summer. The way things went though, it didn’t exactly inspire confidence.

Dragon’s Lair is famous for its clear running water. Locals take pride in the fact that you can drink directly from the mountain streams: very unusual so close to a Chinese megacity. The name ‘Dragon’s Lair’ is a reminder of the connection between dragons — which exist in most cultures around the world in some form, and water — the basic component of life on earth.

In her fascinating 2023 book Water Beings, Veronica Strang undertakes an extraordinary, cross-cultural study of dragons manifesting in cultures all over the world. Their evolution throughout history reflects our changing relationships and attitudes towards water. Here are a couple of quotations from the book to have in the back of your mind while watching the video.

In the early history of humankind, when all societies worshipped nature, they expressed their relationships with water via beliefs in serpentine water beings. Snake-like dragons and similarly ophidian creatures occupied leading roles in their pantheons of deities. Serpent gods rose up out of primal seas to create worlds. They appeared wherever water flowed, sparkling in the celestial river we now call the Milky Way…

In their most important role ever, contemporary water beings give the non-human world, and all of its inhabitants, a voice in the discussions and decisions that will shape the future of all living kinds… water beings, rising up from deep historical undercurrents, have the capacity to connect a vital global conversation about water. 

Veronica Strang (2023) Water Beings: From Nature Worship to the Environmental Crisis, Reaktion Books

We hope you enjoy this insight into a true watery wonderland in our neck of the woods. Stay tuned for our next video, coming soon!