On this 2nd day of the 2nd month of Chinese year (March 20th, 2007), the dragon lifts his head (二月二 龙抬头).
During the Tang (å”) dynasty, WU ZeTian (æ¦åˆ™å¤©, 624~705) over-took the country and became the 1st ever Empress in China. The Gods were not pleased and decided to punish her with a drought. The God of Water, Dragon, received the order not to rain.
But he couldn't bear to see people suffer and gave the world just a little relief. For this crime, the Gods imprisoned him beneath a mountain until “the golden beans blossom.”
People were grateful to Dragon and sought a way to relieve him. One day, they were sun drying corns and eureka, “Aren't these golden beans?” The golden beans blossomed and Dragon is free! Since then, people celebrate this day that “the Dragon lifted his head.” Yes, we Chinese also invented popcorn.
You see, Dragon, also a symbol for emperor, is always male.
Here is a more down-to-earth version.
In agricultural society, the farmers pretty much start their annual vacation after the fall harvest. The leisurely hedonism crests at the New Year. The spring festival starts on New Year's day and lasts for 15 days until the full moon. Then, everyone tries to recover and get ready for another year of the farming. On this 2nd day of the 2nd month, the farming starts. In Chinese, it is called Nong Tou (农头).
Since Dragon (é¾™, Long) is in charge of watering affairs, such as rain, river, ocean, etc. Everyone hopes that this day will also start with a nice rain. In pictures, Dragon sprouts water raising its head (head is “tou” 头 in Chinese).
So, Nong Tou became Long Tai Tou (农头 龙抬头).