Loong is a supernal totem in China. It flys above clouds. It hids in deep pool or river. Rarely does Loong show itself. When Loong appears, people know it's auspicious.

There is no convincing evidence that Loong existed.The very few documents that mentioned Loong had been seen are recorded as far back as the early days of Chinese culture. The common view is that loong is mythological. Most think loong is the creation, instead of a creature, that shows the Chinese worship of all kinds of wild animals, variations of weather and climate, in all, the worship of nature. It's not hard to find those elements selected from nature in loong's totem.

Loong used to share the translation of dragon,which brought many misunderstandings say the Chinese worship the evil...

There are some pictures and a repaste of an article from this website:

http://www.loong.cn/word_loong.htm 

Loong is not so much in the Chinese life nowadays.Only in special occations like a Loong light in Yuanxiao Festival or a Loong Canoe in Duanwu Festival and maybe some Dragon Dance, a very cultural way of celebration. 

Loong's image can be very abstract.There are different versions.Some looks scary,some looks nice.Well,different artists or artisans do loong differently.Loong should be romantic I suppose.

Antique.

In Feudal Age, only the empire can use loong patterns. People then knew that they should never risk to try the country's tradition. It's OK if you put on a empire's clothes now.

The character 龙(Loong) is common in Chinese names.

 Many Chinese families hold such bowls,some are precious, most are not.

Loong 的新版英语解释（英汉对照）（欢迎批评指正）

（全英文版地址：www.loong.us/loong_word.htm）

The word loong was created on the base of the pronunciation of its counterpart character in Chinese at least 60 years ago.
（Loong 这个单词是根据它在中文里的对应汉字"龙"的发音创造出来的，时间至少是六十年前。）

The packaging of Loong Voong cigarettes, 1940's （龙凤香烟的包装纸，1940 年代）

The bas-relief of loong （龙的艺术品）

Loong is a mythological creature, with the head of a camel or horse or snake, the horns of a deer, the eyes of a rabbit, the ears of a cow, the neck and body of a snake, the belly of a kind of huge clam, the scales of a carp, the claws of a hawk, the palm of a tiger, whiskers and a beard.
（龙是一种想象出来的生物，头部似骆驼或马或蛇，角似鹿，眼似兔子，耳似牛，脖子和身体似蛇，腹似蜃，鳞似鲤鱼，爪似鹰，掌似虎，还有着胡须和腮须。）

Loong has not wings. But Ying Loong has wings. Loong will become Ying Loong after a one-thousand-year's self-tempering.
（龙没有翅膀。但是应龙有翅膀。龙经过一千年的修炼可以变成应龙。）

Loong is generally regarded as benevolent, powerful, worshipful and lucky. It is thought the source of wind and rain.
（龙一般被认为是瑞兽，拥有巨大的力量，尊贵，吉祥。龙被认为是风和雨的制造者。）

The earliest artwork of loong ever discovered was built in China about 6,000 years ago. It is a sculpture of loong made by heaping shells of clam.
（迄今为止所发现的龙的艺术品中，最早的是六千年前在中国建造的一座用蚌壳堆造而成的堆塑。）

Loong used to be the symbol of Chinese emperors. Now it stands for luck, happiness and power by ordinary Chinese people.
（龙曾经被中国皇帝用作自己的象征。现在它被普通中国人作为吉祥、幸福和力量的象征。）

It is wrong to translate loong as dragon in English. In fact, loong is so different in nature from dragons that it may be more reasonable to consider them as dissimilar creatures, rather than as the same creature interpreted differently.
（把龙翻译为 dragon 是错误的。实际上，龙和 dragon 在性质上的差异非常大，把它们理解成不同的生物，更加合理。它们不是相同的生物的两种不同解释。）

Loong is a part of the Chinese culture. It is the symbol of the Chinese nation. Loong is a spiritual tie linking the Chinese people all over the world. Chinese people are proud to call themselves "the offspring of the Loong". （龙是中国文化的一部分。它是中国的象征。龙是连接全世界华人的精神纽带。中国人自豪地称自己是"龙的传人"。 The famous Chinese Kung Fu star Bruce Lee's Chinese name is Lee Sui Loong, written in English. "Siu Loong" is the pronunciation of "a little loong" in Chinese, and means a strong and smart boy. （著名的华裔功夫明星李小龙的名字翻译成英文时，其中的"龙"字被写为 Loong。"小龙"的意思是"健壮机灵的孩子"。

The stage property used in The Loong Dance (or Chinese Dragon Dance) is called loong in some Australia museum based on the Internet (e.g. http://203.219.57.198/dragons.html).
（龙舞所使用的道具龙灯，在澳大利亚的一些网上博物馆里被翻译为 Loong。例如：http://203.219.57.198/dragons.html）

(黄佶，2006年12月15日)