 Sun Loong, world's longest imperial dragon / Loong, Bendigo's oldest dragon |
 by Philip Game
Where is the world's longest Chinese imperial dragon? And the oldest surviving dragon?
The answer to both these questions lies not in the Middle Kingdom, nor in the New Gold Mountain (San Francisco) but in Bendigo, an Australian provincial city which was the hub of the gold rush that lured thousands of fortune-seekers to the Big Gold Mountain in the Great South Land.
Bendigo's flamboyant Victorian-era architecture speaks volumes about the fortunes won - and lost - from the gold-bearing quartz reefs on which it was built in the 1860s. Banned from mining the rich lodes, the Chinese stayed on as gardeners, artisans and storekeepers, laying the foundations of a modest-sized community whose origins now extend back three and four generations.
For decades the Chinese have supported local charities by parading their dragon on Easter Monday: the venerable Loong until 1970 then his successor, Sun Loong. A remarkable leader, Chinese-Australian Russell Jack, has galvanized his fellow citizens into funding and creating a Chinese heritage museum, a graphic portrayal of the lives and hard times of the Chinese on the goldfields.
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