Hundreds gathered at the Golden Dragon Museum to welcome the second largest imperial dragon in the world and mark the 150 years since two local organisations came together.

Bendigo Health and the Bendigo Chinese Association celebrated the milestone after years of working together to bring better healthcare to the community.

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The Chinese community began contributing to the city's hospital in the 1850s and it was in 1871 the first Easter fair was held to raise money for the hospital, and the Bendigo Chinese Association was established.

Since then the association has donated thousands of dollars to Bendigo healthcare through its fundraising efforts.

Today the hospital treats more than 50,000 inpatients a year and the funds raised for the Bendigo Health Fundraising and Foundation, thanks to the Bendigo Chinese Association and the Easter Festival, help provide specialised medical equipment, new services and other essentials that contribute to patient comfort and care.

Other organisations and businesses are doing their own fundraising for this worthy cause.

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Sun Loong, along with the Chinese Lions and other dragons from the museum, made the trip around the Tom Flood Sports Centre for all to see.

The dragon was brought to the city in 1970 after the Bendigo Chinese Association decided that it was time for the city's first imperial dragon Loong to retire after he paraded for more than 70 years.

Sun Loong, who was created in Hong Kong after the generous donations of the local community, has carried the mantle of the city's main dragon strongly for the past five decades.

He has paraded through the streets of Bendigo every year and has even performed for royalty when Prince Charles and Princess Diana visited the city in 1983.

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Sun Loong was made in the traditional dragon style and is covered in more than 6000 scales, 90,000 mirrors, and 40,000 beads. His head alone weighs 20.5 kilograms.

He has also made it into the record books as the longest dragon of his kind before the new dragon Dai Gum Loong surpassed his in 2019.

Sun Loong was originally 200 feet long or 66 metres when he was created in Hong Kong in 1969.

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