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A couple hold their newly born "dragon" baby in the Wuxi Yihe Obstetrics and Hynecology Hospital on February 10, 2024. Photo: VCG

Nancy Tang sighs in frustration when seeing the negative result on the pregnancy test kit, again. She writes a private post on social media that is only visible to herself: "If I don't get pregnant soon, I'm gonna miss the 'dragon baby.'"

Both Tang and her husband hope to have a "dragon baby" this year. They believe that the dragon, the mythical creature in ancient Chinese legend, is an auspicious symbol, and having a baby born in the Year of the Dragon is "a pretty cool thing."

Tang is among a growing couples of childbearing age who are eager to have babies in this Year of the Dragon. They make no secret of their preference for the Chinese "Dragon" zodiac sign, and they very much expect to get pregnant by March - so that their babies will be born before the end of January 2025, the start of the Year of the Snake.

Chinese demographers predicted that the "dragon baby fever" is likely to cause a small baby boom this year, a positive sign of people's confidence in China's economy and social policies. 

Many places in China have inded experienced a small babyboom since the Year of the Dragon, with the birth rate from early 2024 to now increasing by more than 10 percent compared to the same period last year, according to a report of team led by macro policy analyst Ren Zeping released on March 12.

However, in the long term, due to the gradual disappearance of the fertility accumulation effect, low fertility rates, and the continuous decline in the number of women of childbearing age, it will be difficult to reverse the downward trend in the birth rate without substantial and effective pro-natal policies being implemented, the report noted.

Obsession for a 'dragon baby'

Tang is a 35-year-old teacher in Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan Province. She lives far apart from her husband, who works long-term in the Xizang Autonomous Region.

During the summer and winter vacations in 2023, Tang traveled nearly 1,000 kilometers to Xizang region, living there with her husband for several weeks each time. The biggest task for the couple was to conceive a baby, particularly, a baby that would be born this year - the Year of the Dragon.

The long journeys were just a small part of the many efforts Tang made in the past year for the anticipated "dragon baby." To be healthier and more "pregnancy-appropriate," Tang was prescribed traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture sessions for months to "improve the endocrine system."

"I've even been to the temples, praying to the Buddha to have a 'dragon baby' soon," she said.

Similarly, Xiao Ling, a 34-year-old woman working in Beijing, is also looking forward to a "dragon baby."

"I did not have a preference for a 'dragon baby' at first. But my mom consulted a  fortune teller who said that a 'dragon baby' would benefit me according to my shengchen bazi, and a baby in the next year of the snake would negatively affect me," Xiao said. 

Shengchen bazimeans "the date of birth and the eight characters of the horoscope." These eight characters are translated from the birth information - year, month, day, and hour - into four pairs of distinct Chinese characters, which ancient Chinese people believed contained the secrets of a person's fortune. 

"I know it is a kind of superstition, but as long I as I have heard it, it is hard to get it out of my mind. In Chinese culture, the dragon symbolizes power, nobility, and intelligence. I have a reserved personality, so I think a 'dragon baby' may complement me well," Xiao told the Global Times.

"But, anyway, I will embrace my baby whenever it comes, my only wish is that it is healthy," Xiao noted.