Preparing for a long year ahead in 2012

No symbol is more synonymous with China than the dragon.

But from a foreigner's perspective, China's preoccupation with the dragon seems misplaced. After all, the dragons in our bedtime stories were terrifying, fire-breathing beasts with bared fangs and razor-sharp claws. Dragons are portrayed as predatory, demonic creatures. One only needs to look at the ominously titled murder mystery novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to see how dragon imagery is still used in popular culture to symbolize something disturbing and sinister.

When China released a postage stamp earlier this month bearing the fearsome image of a dragon to commemorate Chinese New Year, it inadvertently portrayed the country's national identity as intimidating.

In contrast, Chinese families are enthusiastically affixing red paper cut-outs of dragons to their doors, couples are hurrying to conceive a "dragon baby" and the country is bracing for an estimated five percent increase in births.

It does not take a Sinologist to see that something has been lost in translation. The reality is that the differences between the dragons of Western culture and what the Chinese call long are so pronounced that they warrant a new translation.

Firstly, dragons in Western culture are always the enemy. In the story of Beowulf, slaying the dragon is the duty of king. However, long is a king according to Chinese mythology. In ancient times, the emperor was perceived as embodying the spirit of the dragon because the Chinese consider it fierce and fair. Not only is it powerful, but also wise and benevolent.

Also, the dragons depicted in Western culture are reptilian. Their appearance evokes scaled, slimy, slithering creatures that most people find repulsive. In Chinese culture, the dragon has a ferocious face, yet its form is aerial and movements are fluid. It is usually depicted as gliding through the air without wings. It is a spiritual creature and, on occasion, the dragon has even been known to assume different forms in nature, from hurricanes to humans.

Finally, while dragons in Western culture breathe fire from their mouths and nostrils, in China they gush water. When rain falls, storms brew, or a twisting column of wind spins over the water's surface - it signals the dragon's arrival. It comes as no surprise then that the Chinese term for tornado literally translates as "dragon swirling wind."

Dragons may have their differences in Western and Eastern culture, but the real monster is miscommunication. In 2012, there will continue to be many points of contention between China and the West.

But in a world where the global economy increasingly depends on China, the West can no longer afford such misunderstandings. Foreigners need to grasp knowledge of China that goes beyond outdated archetypes and mistranslations, and China needs to find new ways of expressing age-old ideas.

It is time for us to embrace the Year of the Long.