Mr Jack and 120-year-old Imperial dragon Loong have been lifelong mates, walking the streets of Bendigo entertaining the masses.

Tonight’s Chinese New Year celebrations will be Loong’s last public parade.

“He has brought a lot of people together,” Mr Jack said. “He has been great for this town.”

Mr Jack walked alongside Loong in Easter parades year after year until the dragon’s retirement in 1970.

He helped wake Loong from his slumber earlier this week.

Mr Jack said Loong’s contribution to the community stretched beyond Bendigo.

“This dragon is not only an icon to Bendigo but to Australia, having marked federation in Melbourne in 1901,” he said. “He has travelled across Australia raising money for charity.

“It was a great way to help assimilation of Europeans and Chinese because this dragon, he had all nationalities under it.

“He brought us together as a nation.”

Mr Jack laughs when he looks at photo taken of him in the 1950s.

The picture, believed to have been taken in 1955, is of a 20-year-old Mr Jack walking alongside Loong in an Easter parade. The photograph was donated to the Golden Dragon Museum and sits among its photographic collection.

“I just wish I was that young again,” Mr Jack said.

“My father instilled these thoughts into our minds at a young age that you have to raise money for charity.

“My dad, he worked and would never take a pension.

“I still believe everyone at some point in your life, you have got to give back to the town.”

Loong performed at every Easter parade between 1892 and 1970, raising money for the then Bendigo Base Hospital.

Mr Jack said he had plans to ensure the Golden Dragon Museum, which Loong sits in, would continue to raise money for the Bendigo Health Foundation.

“When we do the next stage of the museum, I want a percentage of what comes through the doors go to Bendigo Health,” he said.

For more on Loong’s life, see More.