Meet the Fuwa

With the Opening Ceremonies only days away, I thought I'd introduce you to some of the imagery that you'll no doubt be subjected to throughout August's Olympic broadcasts. These are the Fuwa, mascots of this summer's Beijing Games, each carefully designed to symbolize the following attributes:

Colors: Each fuwa draws inspiration from the color of an Olympic ring
Phonetics: Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini are all 2-syllable words for addressing small children in Chinese
Animals: Four of them represent China's most popular animals -- the fish, panda, swallow and Tibetan antelope
Elements: Their headpieces represent the Sea, Forest, Fire, Earth and Sky
Names: If you combine the first syllables of their names you get "Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni" or "Welcome to Beijing"

China embraces cartoon images more than most countries I've come across (JPN excepted). And the love of 'toons isn't just from children. I'm willing to bet any of you that at some point in the coming 3 months I will be in a serious business meeting across the table from a seemingly austere middle-aged Chinese businessman. At some point during the meeting his mobile phone will ring and when he lifts it to his ear, a wimpy little charm bearing the likeness of one of these Fuwa will dangle from it. This is money in the bank, it will happen, check back for updates.

Here is the individual fuwa for the Olympic shooting competition.....a bit hostile

And if you've got the time to waste in checking past Olympics mascots there is a good rundown on this site. I think we all remember Sam the Eagle from the '84 Games in Los Angeles.... http://inventorspot.com/articles/the_top_10_coolest_olympic_mascots_16307