The life circle of a Chinese dragon was long and arduous, taking many thousands of years. Old Chinese believed that Chinese dragons have several different life stages and can live at least 6000 years.
       It was said that at beginning, dragons were in the "dragon eggs" which looked like shinning jewelry. From the moment they hatched to around five hundred years, they didn’t look like dragons. Instead, they would live as "water snakes". From around five hundred to around one thousand, they become fish and then scaled dragons living in the sea. But that time, they didn’t have horns. Then from about one thousand years to one thousand five hundred years old, the dragon grows rapidly. Between the ages of one thousand five hundred and two thousand, they would gain horns which represent wisdom. Though some information indicates that after the dragon is two thousand years old, they became dragons with wings and less scales, we don't find any pictures of winged Chinese dragons from reliable websites or books.