Golden Dragon Museum general manager Anita Jack travelled to Hong Kong this week to officially grant the contract to Master Hui.

Master Hui, 42, is an experienced dragon maker who has supplied crafted lions and dragons for parades and performances across North America and in Macau.

From his Hung C Lau workshop in Hong Kong, Master Hui leads a team of workers capable of creating a worthy replacement for the beloved Sun Loong in just over six months.

They will begin work right away.

Dai Gum Loong is expected to be complete by January next year, when he will be transported to Bendigo to take part in the 2019 Easter Parade – Sun Loong’s last.

Related: Sun Loong’s last dance approaches

Golden Dragon Museum founder Russell Jack said Master Hui was capable of carrying on Bendigo’s tradition of having the finest parading imperial dragons in the world.

“We’ve really been spoiled because we’ve always had the best,” he said.

“I don’t think anybody would want to miss next Easter, that is going to be magnificent.”

A Bendigo delegation visited a number of dragon makers in Hong Kong in the last few years, and Master Hui had recommendations both locally and internationally.

He visited Bendigo in March to inspect the city’s Chinese artifacts.

The quality of his work, the ability to complete large projects and the speed at which it could be completed were the main reasons in selecting him.

Related: Sun Loong’s replacement named as dragon hunt begins

Mr Jack said ensuring that the thousands of scales on the dragon were individually crafted was a priority.

“We’ve always got the hand-cut mirrors, and there’s thousands of them. If we served them up to the Bendigo people and just had the painted scales – they wouldn’t accept that,” he said.

“The scales will be almost a dead-ringer for the ones in 1892, the original ones.

“From what we’ve seen so far, it’s going to be magnificent.”

Just like how Sun Loong was not an exact replica of Loong, Dai Gum Loong will not be an exact replica of Sun Loong.

Golden Dragon Museum research officer Leigh McKinnon said the dragon maker had some discretion in the colours and appearance of the dragon’s body.

“Tradition plays a big part in how the dragon will look, but also each dragon maker has his own inspiration, his own styles,” he said.

“So it’ll be a mixture of the traditions that Bendigo is asking the dragon maker to reproduce, along with his own craftsmanship and artistic interpretation.”

Many of these details remain a secret.

His final length is also a secret, but in next year’s Easter Parade the Chinese Association could need at least 120 legs to carry Sun Loong and Dai Gum Loong down the parade route.

The Bendigo Chinese Association was overwhelmed with the support from the community in funding a replacement for Sun Loong.

The community raised several hundred thousand dollars, including individual donations and bequests of up to $50,000 right down to $1.75. The City of Greater Bendigo provided $100,000.

Mr Jack said it was difficult to see where the money would come from back in 2016 when the campaign started, but it soon became apparent that the Bendigo community was right behind the idea.

“To get that money that quick, you really have to understand Bendigo and the people, and the love and affection between the Europeans and the Chinese,” he said.

“You see in the procession, even now, 700 little white faces and all they want to be is Chinese on that day.

“We accept them as that, same as they accept us as Aussies. And that’s the great thing about it.”

The state government and federal government each provided $250,000.