I was first attracted to these mascots of the Beijing Olympics 2008 way back in Singapore when the Fuwa mascots were first introduced on TV. That documentary described how those who were involved in creating the personalities had to cracked their heads in coming up with many drawings that could communicate with and stir the imagination of fans and yet retain certain aspects of Chinese culture. It started with one mascot but soon expanded to five to represent the Fengshui elements of Water (female fish Beibei in blue), Wood (male panda Jingjing in black), Fire, best representing the Olympic Flame (male Huanhuan in red), Earth (male antelope Yingying in yellow/orange) and Metal (female bird/swift Nini in green). These mascots were all adorable and fans who were at the Badminton venue were simply delighted with their antics and revelry during the intervals/breaks when they 'staggered' into the court and made a 'mess' of themselves. Here are some pics of my dolls.
They play joyfully during the intervals Playtime for our mascots during the badminton interval between LCW and LHI, and ably supported by the dancing girls later.
Ah, you've forgotten panda Jingjing and our Canadian friend DinkAlot may be disappointed! As Uncle Sam has clarified, the short form for each of the mascots reads: "Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni" or Beijing Welcomes You
Badminton Mascot Do you know who is the mascot for badminton? Do you think they have chosen the most appropriate representative for our beloved game and why?
Madbad's lovely ABBA "dancing queens" love the limelight at centre court. They can't let the Fuwa mascots steal the entire show. Actually the mascots were more considerate as they only play outside the competition courts at one end of the stadium. I tell you, you should be there for the mascot entertainment. They made everybody laugh when one of them 'lost' his shoe and the rest of the gang used it as a football to pass it around. Our exasperated mascot who tried to chase for his shoe fell a few times I think and he was so heavy and clumsy that the rest of his mascot friends had a hard time trying to heave him up. A big contrast to the serious 'life-and-death" rubber match battle between LCW and LHI!
Ah, you're trying to 'cheat'. I will only believe you when you state it here. Better still with a picture to prove as well!
Yup, five fuwa members a.k.a Friendlies are cute and lovely mascot. Bei2-Jing2-Huan2-Ying2-Ni2 also represent 5 colours of Olympic ring which describe 5 continents. The previous mascots of Summer Games are quite forgotten now, such as Athena & Phevos (Athens 2004), Syd-Olly-Millie (Sydney 2000), the weird creature named 'Izzy' (Atlanta 1996), Cobi (Barcelona 1992), cute tiger Hodori (Seoul 1988).
Don't you think it has to do with the shuttle, the bird? Now which of the mascots represents the bird? Nini the swift or the swallow! I managed to take a pic with Nini on my departure from the airport.
