The successful splashdown Thursday of SpaceX's Dragon capsule, the world's first commercial space cargo ship, is drawing high praise from spaceflight experts and lawmakers alike.

MSN: SpaceX showered with praise for success of Dragon mission

With abject competitive fury, he was not above imitating the grand dragon of the Venice art world, Titian, and his designated successor, Veronese.

NEWYORKER: Venetian Brass

Beginning on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, people of several ethnic groups throughout China and the world celebrate the Dragon Boat festival, especially in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

UNESCO: Culture

In the world of architecture, this week Vietnam unveiled the world's largest dragon-shaped bridge -- and it actually breathes fire!

ENGADGET: Inhabitat's Week in Green: stair-climbing vacuum cleaner, carbon dioxide diapers and a real 3D-printed face

Are you one of those timid mariners who's afraid to leave shore because you might come to the edge of the world and fall into a dragon's maw?

NPR: Excerpt: 'Nobody's Baby'

Books such as The World Is Flat and The Elephant and The Dragon have chronicled the rapid rise of China, India, Southeast Asia and eastern Europe, et al. Of course, many factors from supply-side tax policies to open trade have contributed to the global boom.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The Dragon Mart is also evidence of the rebirth of one of the world's oldest trading routes, the silk road.

ECONOMIST: Schumpeter