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By Jack Broom
Seattle Times staff reporter

When visiting Seattle's Chinatown International District, know this: Dragons may look scary to Western eyes, but in Asian cultures, they symbolize benevolence and good fortune. The one at Hing Hay Park honors achievements of the area's Asian and Pacific immigrants.

Borrowed parts: A Chinese dragon is actually a composite creature, borrowing the body of a snake, the talons of an eagle and the head of a camel, says Vi Mar, who's been conducting Chinatown Discovery tours since 1985.

	BETTY UDESEN / THE SEATTLE TIMES
	In Seattle's Hing Hay Park, Vi Mar explains the dragon to children on her tour.

We're talking diversity: More than 20 different languages and dialects are spoken by employees at the 60,000-square-foot Uwajimaya Village superstore, 600 Fifth Ave. S., a prime destination for residents and visitors.

Powerful watchman: That small shrine on the back wall of Mon Hei Chinese Bakery, the city's oldest Chinese bakery, is in homage to Kwan Kung, the god of security. His needs are modest: colored lights, incense, fruit and pastries; 669 S. King St.

Early arrivals: Among the first Asian-Pacific pioneers here were Hawaiians, who came as sailors on merchant ships crossing the Pacific in the 1780s, according to the Wing Luke Asian Museum, 407 Seventh Ave. S., www.wingluke.org, 206-623-5124.

Shape your own tour: See www.historylink.org/cybertours/id, prepared by HistoryLink for the city of Seattle.