Beijing unveils 2008 Olympic mascots
From Max Lee

BEIJING—Beijing unveiled a set of five doll mascots for the 2008 Olympic Games Friday evening, exactly 1,000 days before the event’s opening ceremony.
The long-anticipated mascots, which embody the natural characteristics of four of China’s popular animals — the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow — and the Olympic Flame, were presented at a grand televised ceremony inside the Workers’ Gymnasium.
It is the first time more than three images share Summer Olympic mascot duty.
“We decided to produce five mascots instead of one, because we think no single figure can embody China’s profound and diversified culture,” said Han Meilin, chief of the mascot designers’ group.
Each of the Beijing Olympic mascots has a rhyming two-syllable name — a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow.
When these names are put together — Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni — they say “Welcome to Beijing”.
The five elements of nature — the sea, forest, fire, earth and sky — can be found in their origins and headpieces, all stylistically rendered in ways that represent the deep traditional influences of Chinese folk art and ornamentation.
Each of the mascots also symbolizes a different blessing — prosperity, happiness, passion, health and good luck.
The unveiling of the Beijing Olympic mascots also ended a year-long race of hundreds of candidates.
Since the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG) launched a worldwide solicitation in August last year, competition was hot as a handful of areas were vying to have their local symbols picked.
The country’s western Qinghai province was pushing the endangered Tibetan antelope. Fujian province presented the South China tiger. Gansu Province favored the mythical dragon and Jiangsu Province promoted the legendary Monkey King.
Dozens of artists and designers were called to cut the initial list of mascot entrants from 662 to 56 and finally to six, with the final choice selected by the BOCOG. The International Olympic Committee approved the choice in August.
The first mascot to appear at an Olympic Games was in the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble, France. But Schuss the skier was not official. The first official mascot was Waldi the Dachshund, who appeared at the Munich Summer Games in 1972.