Save the dragon
The week's news at a glance.
Beijing
A Shanghai professor who said that the dragon symbol gives foreigners a "misleading" impression of China was subjected this week to a national drubbing. Wu Youfu, party secretary of Shanghai University, recently told Guangming Daily that he fears that Westerners interpret the Chinese dragon as an aggressive icon. In Chinese culture, the dragon is not a fire-breathing monster, as it is in the West. Instead, it is a peaceful creature that brings rain and represents prosperity. Many bloggers and local newspapers attacked Wu for his perceived slight to the 7,000-year-old national symbol. But the Chinese government implicitly backed him: Officials announced that they would not use the dragon as one of the mascots for the 2008 Olympic Games.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What should you be stockpiling for 'World War Three'?
In the Spotlight Britons advised to prepare after the EU tells its citizens to have an emergency kit just in case
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Carnivore diet: why people are eating only meat
The Explainer 'Meatfluencers' are taking social media by storm but experts warn meat-only diets have health consequences
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human blood
Under the radar Drugging the bugs
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published