In Chinese culture, tigers are thought of as the king of all beasts (野兽). They symbolize (象征) power, energy, protection and so on. So you can see pictures of tigers on the walls to prevent bad luck.
Tigers have an important cultural meaning not just in China, but across Asia. As they usually live in Asia, for many people in the West they have become a cultural symbol of Eastern countries. For example, strong economies (经济) in the East——Singapore，Republic of Korea, China's Hong Kong and China's Taiwan—were called" The Four Asian Tigers".
Instead of tigers, lions are considered as the king of all beasts in the West. Brave warriors (战士) were given the name "the lion". In Europe, the animal is a national symbol for England, Norway, Spain, Belgium and 13 other countries. But in the West, tigers are also seen as a very powerful animal. In English, if you want someone to calm down, you can say to them, "easy tiger".
Tigers are also one of my favorite animals. I first learned about the beauty of tigers as a child, while watching Animal World. If you ask my mom, she'll tell you that my favourite toy was my toy tiger, which I still keep to this day. I love China's twelve animal years because they show the connection, understanding and respect (尊重) that humans can have for animals, As an animal lover, I feel so sad that they are in danger and I want to help protect them Just like the tiger is a symbol of protection in Chinese culture, we can only hope that in the Year of the Tiger more people can learn about tigers and help protect them completely.
