A majestic dragon set that is both a beautiful display and a great activity for kids and adults. — Photo: Handout
The Year of the Wood Dragon will begin next Saturday and the image of this Chinese mythical creature has been adorning malls and buildings as everyone gears up to celebrate the arrival of a new year. The dragon is the only mythical creature among the 12 Chinese zodiac animals, so naturally, its interpretation is more creative and inventive.
Here are some items injected with the visual of a dragon, made especially for the Lunar New Year.
Block maker Lego has a whole list of items to usher the Year of the Dragon, and this majestic Spring Festival Auspicious Dragon figure is already selling like hot cakes.
A meaningful, symbolic cultural gift for kids aged 10 and up, this brick-built mythical creature has a tilting head and an opening mouth, with printed elements for eyes and scales to make it look real. It holds a traditional blue crystal and sits on a rock. A dramatic home display, it’s also a great activity for the family to do together.
Lego Spring Festival Family Reunion set
If you're looking for something with a more familial feel, Lego also has a buildable model of a traditional Chinese-style restaurant with a family reunion dinner setting, which includes an impressive 13 minifigures, as well as highly detailed rooms such as a kitchen, reception area, dining room, and bathroom. There's even a buildable karaoke machine, flower store, dim sum toy cart and street food cart!
You can find these sets at Lego's The Long Quest For Wisdom CNY event at Ground Floor, LUXE, 1 Utama Shopping Centre (New Wing) from now until 18 February 2024.
This popular board game has its Year of the Dragon version for 2024. — Hasbro Malaysia
Popular board game Monopoly rolls out its own iteration for the Lunar New Year celebration, this time with a flashy 3D zodiac wheel spinner, tokens in the deep green colour of jade and properties like toy and tea shop.
And in line with Chinese culture, players can score good fortune by giving away and collecting Hongbao cards (representing red envelopes), taking a chance with Fortune cards, and discovering the twist of fate by the zodiac wheel. When all the shops are bought, the player with the fattest wallet wins.
Miss Courageous Dragon is embroidered on boys' reversible shirt. — Maison Q
Singapore’s children’s wear brand Maison Q has been making a name in Kuala Lumpur for its unique prints – it has its own fabric factory in Indonesia. This year, its whimsical and colourful print features all of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac.
Led by the dragon, the group metaphorically marches into the New Year. Its reversible boy’s shirt features a beautiful embroidery of Courageous Miss Dragon, with a light orange body, white lines across its back and a multi-coloured mane.
This story about courage and hard work is accompanied by beautiful illustrations. — LIM LAY KOON
Lim Lay Koon’s Xin and The Blue Dragon of Spring is based on the four divine beasts in Chinese culture – blue dragon, white tiger, vermillion bird and black tortoise. Each of these animals represents a season and the direction it guards.
In this tale, the Blue Dragon of Spring is still fast asleep, and this stretches winter longer. Tired of the cold, a brave young girl called Xin gathers her courage to single-handedly wake up the animal in the cave so it can take its place in the constellation for spring to arrive.
A simple story with beautiful illustration, it infuses culture and good values, making it a perfect book to be read to children.
Customisable money packets so pretty they are made for important people and events. — ana-tomy.co
Planner maker Ana Tomy has collaborated with The Alphabet Press to release customisable red packets where the dragon majestically glides across the four packets, almost like going on an enchanting journey. The die-cut windows allow you to see where the dragon’s path meets different well wishes.
A beautiful keepsake, this work of art goes beyond the celebration, perhaps as money packets for important people or events.
The dragon scale pattern on the chocolate is made through a new technique called farbling. — KitKat
Chocolate brand KitKat celebrates the dragon with a technology to create dragon-scale pattern on its limited edition chocolate. Manufactured in its facility in Chembong, Negri Sembilan, its production hub for Asean markets, the pattern is in yellow and red, both auspicious colours in Chinese tradition.
The chocolate has an orange tinge, because according to market research, the zesty citrus fruit is a popular seasonal flavour for chocolate.
