Dragons are central to Chinese mythology.
Unlike European dragons, usually depicted as evil and bloodthirsty, the Chinese dragon was, as a rule, a kind, gracious, and merciful creature to people. For this, the Chinese loved their dragons and paid them high honors.
In honor of this main mythological creature, the Chinese city of Weifang hosts the Weifang International Kite Festival, which is attended by more than one hundred thousand people from more than 60 countries.
The first festival was held in 1984. Since then, this magnificent show has been held annually in mid-April and lasts several days.
The opening ceremony of the festival in terms of entertainment, dynamism and scale is compared to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games! This indicates the high prestige of the festival throughout the world. Participants from abroad carefully and in advance transport their masterpieces to Weifan and carefully prepare them for the festival.
These structures can only be called snakes conditionally — in reality they have countless shapes, sizes and colors, and snakes — are only a small part of them. The festival program includes an international competition and the Chinese paper snake championship, a visit to the Paper Snake Museum, and a demonstration of snake making by Chinese craftsmen. There is also a competition for the title of «King of the Paper Snake».
In addition to the main rich program, trade and culinary fairs are held during the festival.