The way of the dragon

Does the arrival of Chinese New Year and all its fiery celebrations put you in a Daenerys Targaryen- esque mood, pondering “Where are my dragons?” Well, we’re here to help.

No matter how much fans of fantasy literature and those born in the Year of the Dragon may wish otherwise, all evidence points to the creatures never having existed, disappointingly. Still, there are plenty of places where you can indulge a taste for all things scaly, fire-breathing, flighty and reptilian – even if only in symbolic form. These are a few of our favourite dragon-inspired destinations.

Kowloon, Hong Kong 

The name Kowloon – the area directly north of Victoria Harbour – means nine dragons in Chinese. The story goes that in the 13th century, six-year-old Emperor Zhao Bing of the Southern Song Dynasty looked out on the landscape of Kowloon, counted its eight hills, and named them “Eight Dragons”. An obsequious courtier pointed out that the boy emperor was himself a dragon, making a total of nine. Unfortunately, Zhao’s short reign, and the Southern Song Dynasty itself, came to an end the next year – but the Kowloon name lives on. Today, one of the ways the legend is remembered in Hong Kong is via the punishing 9 Dragons ultra-marathon event each February. 

Komodo, Indonesia 

While the Nine Dragons trail feels killer, Indonesia’s Komodo dragons are genuinely lethal. The largest lizard on Earth today – and along with crocodiles, probably the closest thing we have to the dragons of legend – this carnivorous three-metre-long brute has a bite that delivers a deadly poison that kills prey such as deer and boar over the course of several days. Humans, meanwhile, can die within hours of a Komodo nibble. But don’t let that put you off visiting the picturesque island of Komodo, where you can view these magnificent creatures up close. Just ... not too close. 

Lightning Ridge, Australia 

From Smaug in The Hobbit to the Germanic legend of Siegfried and Brunhilde, in fantasy and mythology dragons are often to be found jealously guarding a hoard of treasure. In the remote Australian town of Lightning Ridge, however, the “dragons” are the treasure. Here, the remains of creatures including dinosaurs and marine reptiles have transformed, over the course of more than 100 million years, into opalised form. Visitors to Lightning Ridge can join the dig and, if they’re lucky, unearth the glittering, rainbow-like opalised bones of animals such as mighty theropods, the fearsome family that included Tyrannosaurus rex. 

Chinese Mainland

Dragons are ubiquitous across Chinese culture. You can view the Nine Dragon Screen in Beijing’s Forbidden City, peruse the 500-year-old dragon sculptures of Yu Garden in Shanghai, or visit the Dragon Tower in Harbin, the tallest steel tower in Asia. You might opt to walk the “dragon’s back” of the serpentine Great Wall, or brave the glass-bottomed Coiling Dragon Cliff Walkway which winds around Hunan’s Tianmen Mountain. But for those wishing to emulate the dragon’s prowess at breathing fire, it’s Sichuan that brings the heat. Fly into Chengdu, embark upon a culinary odyssey across China’s spice capital, and feel the burn.

Halong Bay, Vietnam

In Vietnamese, ha means descending and long translates to dragon, making this popular destination “the bay of the descending dragon”. While legend tells of dragons coming down to Earth in ancient times to help the country’s people fight off invaders, this stretch of coastline wasn’t officially recorded as Halong Bay until the late 19th century, when the crew of a French ship supposedly observed gigantic sea snakes in the waters. No such beasties have been spotted in recent years, but there’s still plenty to draw the eye, including dramatic cliffsides, lush greenery, beautiful beaches, numerous caves and, of course, the stone islets for which the bay is famed.

Wakefield, United Kingdom

The UK is no stranger to dragons; the creatures play a central role in many a British chivalric myth. Now slaying crowds in the most positive way is The Hatchling, the world’s largest dragon puppet. Designed in consultation with a palaeontologist and inspired by the form of dinosaurs and other reptiles, this gargantuan marionette has appeared at an array of high- profile events, including Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022. This year, the puppet will play a lead role at the Our Year 2024 festival in Wakefield, England. This free, three-day experience in late August will conclude with the dragon taking flight across parkland.

Trujillo, Spain

The hit series Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon were shot in countless visually impactful locations – some dramatic and desolate, others sumptuously historic. For fans of the franchise who’d prefer to visit the latter type of site (a wise move), we suggest flying into Madrid and making a beeline for the Spanish city of Trujillo and its broader province of Cáceres. First settled in prehistoric times, the area boasts extraordinary, millennia-old edifices that have served as settings for both shows. You may not stumble across a dragon, but you’re sure to encounter some lovely architecture – and excellent rioja.