March 14th 2013

Dear Master Jack,

“My clan lives in the Huangshan mountain range,” Lady Lian said, settling down on a pile of coverlets that had been placed on the floor for her. “It is a place of great beauty, with steep rocky peaks and beautiful pine trees. Over the centuries, we have carved hidden caves into the rock, caves that are many hundreds of feet up from the valley floor. In some places in the mountains, humans have carved steps into the stone, many hundreds of them, but they cannot reach our caves because the sides of our mountains are so steep and the rock is too hard.”

“It is a very beautiful place,” Grandfather said, “and I was reluctant to leave when Branwen and I visited you.”

“It is indeed very beautiful, and maybe one day you will come and visit us, little Gryf.” Lady Lian’s golden eyes rested on me for a moment or two. “When I was three years old and had enough flying experience, my parents decided to take me to visit my aunt’s family. Aunt Ah-lam lived with her partner’s clan in the mountains around Mount Tai, to the north of where we lived. We set off one summer morning and were there a few days later. Aunt Ah-lan’s clan lived in a huge complex of caves, and the entrance was carefully hidden. I remember flying towards the mountain and it was only when we right at the cave mouth that I was able to see it.

“Mount Tian is a sacred place for humans, and they have built many temples on the sides of the mountain. The city of Tai’an lies at the base of mountain, and I saw it briefly. I had never seen a human settlement before and was very excited to see so many humans walking around, and to see their homes, temples, and shops. There were stairs with many thousands of steps that curled their way up the side of the mountain to temples that were built into the rocky slopes.

“We were given a grand welcome by my aunt’s clan, and I quickly made friends with Aunt Ah-lam’s younglings, my cousins.” Lady Lian sighed. “Two of them died of the sickness that killed my hatchlings soon after our visit. Back then, before your Lady Branwen’s visit, we did not understand the source of the illness and we therefore did not know how to cure it.

Lady Lian sighed again and then continued with her story. “Soon after we arrived, after we had rested, Aunt Ah-lam held a wonderful party in our honor, which was held in the Clan Hall.”

“Was it like the party we had last night?” I asked.

Lady Lian smiled at me and crossed her paws. “The atmosphere was similar, but the music, food and dancing was different. The Mount Tai dragons had a unique way of dancing. They took flying leaps in the air and some even did a loop. They were very acrobatic!”

“What do you mean?” I asked. How could a dragon do a loop?

Lady Lian got to her feet. “Follow me and I will show you,” she said, leading me out of the cave into the sunshine. As we all watched, she launched herself off the landing area in front of the cave and into the air. Since she had no wings I expected her to fall like a stone, but instead she flowed through the air with grace and ease.

“I still get amazed every time I see Chinese dragons fly,” Grandfather said as we watched Lady Lian’s body curl like smoke above the trees.

“How do they do it, Grandfather?” I asked. “How do they stay up? They have no wings.”

“I have no idea, Gryf. It is a mystery,” my grandfather replied, shaking his head and smiling.

As we all watched, Lady Lian curved her back and then she was upside down! Then she curved more and she was almost touching her own tail, creating a large golden O in the sky. Now I knew what she meant by a loop! As we clapped and cheered, she came out of the loop, twirled a few times, and then landed in front of the cave.

“Oh, that was wonderful,” I said, barely able to contain my excitement. “I wish Welsh dragons could do that.”

“Technically speaking we can fly upside down, but I am afraid the effect will not be very graceful,” Father said, laughing.

We all trooped back into the main hall in our family cave and took our seats once more. “So the Mount Tian dragons put loops into their dances?” Grandfather asked.

“Yes they did. Their Clan Hall was the biggest Clan Hall I have ever seen. The ceiling was high enough to allow for such displays. Mind you, the dragons themselves were a lot smaller than I am now. They are small green dragons that can fly at great speeds. China is such a big place that there are several dragon species living there. The Tian dragons are the smallest ones.

“In the days after the party, I went exploring with my cousins. We flew up to touch the tops of the mountain and then we spilled down the sides at great speed, flying just above the trees. We played in mountain streams and sat in waterfalls of freezing water. Though I enjoyed these activities, I wanted to go and see the humans, but my cousins told me that it was forbidden. As I am sure you can imagine, being told that I was not allowed to see humans made me all the more curious to do so, and one afternoon I managed to sneak off on my own.

“I flew just above the trees to where a little temple stood. It was built in an open space all my itself and I saw several humans walking up some stairs to the little building, their backs bowed with weariness. I crept around to the back of the building, peered in a little window, and found myself practically nose to nose with a human. We both cried out and fell backwards.”