Mascots – Fuwa / Fu Niu Lele

Mascots – Fuwa

 

Like the five Olympic Rings from which they draw their colours and inspiration, the Fuwa serve as the official mascots of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, carrying a message of friendship and peace and blessings from China – to children all over the world. Expressing the plauful qualities of five little children who form an intimate circle of friends, the Fuwa also embody the natural characteristics of four of China’s most popular animals: the fish, the panda, the Tibetan antelope, the swallow and the Olympic flame.

  Each of the Fuwa (as you can see the pic below) has a rhyming two-syllable name, and when you put their names together – Bei, Jing, Huan, Ying and Ni – they say Beijing huanying ni! Or “Welcome to Beijing.” It symbolizes a the warm invitation to the people of the world that reflects the mission of the Five Fuwa as playful young ambassadors for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

 

 

The Fuwa also embody the landscape, the dreams and aspirations of people from every part of the vast nation of China. In their origin and from their headpieces, you can see the five elements of natural – the sea, forest, fire, earth and sky – all stylistically rendered in ways that represent the deep traditional influences of Chinese folk art and ornamentation.

-       Beibei, a fish who carries the blessing of prosperity, is strong in water sports and reflects the blue Olympic ring.

-       Jingjing, a giant Panda, is charmingly naïve and optimistic. He is an athlete noted for strength who represents the black Olympic ring.

-       Huanhuan is a child of fire, symbolizing the Olympic flame and the passion of sport expressed in the Olympic motto:”Citius, Altius, Fortius.”

-       Like all antelopes, Yingying is fast and agile. Yingying, strong in track and field events, represents the yellow Olympic ring.

-       Nini is as innocent and joyful as a swallow. She is strong in gymnastics and represents the green Olympic ring.

 

 

Mascots – Fu Niu Lele

 

The mascot for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games is Funiu Lele. The design of Funiu Lele derives its inspiration from the farming cultivation culture of ancient Chinese civilization.

 

The cow, symbolic of a down-to-earth, diligent, staunch and unyielding spirt, was used to portray the unremitting spirit of athletes with a disability in being the best they can be. It dovetails with the upbest spirit of Paralympians and the concepts of “Transcendence, Equality, Integration” of the Beijing Paralympic Games.

 

Fu Niu Lele’s image, with its strong Chinese style, combines the virtues of benevolence, hard world and striving for excellence. Fu Niu Lele, together with the emblem featuring the elements of the sky, earth and human beings, integrates the fine Chinese tradition of “striving to become stronger and great virtues carrying great responsibilities” with the theme of the Beijing Paralympic Games: One World One Dream. It will also send the best wishes of the Chinese people to people with a disability in all parts of the world for happiness, peace and good luck.