叶公好龙 (Yè Gōng hào lóng): lit. Lord Ye's passion for dragons; fig. to pretend to be fond of sth while actually fearing it; ostensible fondness of sth one really fears

叶Yè公Gōng好hào龙lóng

lit. Lord Ye's passion for dragons; fig. to pretend to be fond of sth while actually fearing it; ostensible fondness of sth one really fears

Lord Ye loved dragon ornaments, then fled when a real dragon called. For loving the idea of something, not the thing.