Mascots

Mascots

The Fuwa (Chinese: 福娃; pinyin: Fúwá; literally "good-luck dolls") were designed by Han Meilin. They were originally named "The Friendlies", but this name was dropped as Chinese officials were worried that it would be misunderstood as "friendless" or "friend lies." The Fuwa consist of five members that incorporate fish, giant panda, fire, Tibetan antelope, and swallow designs. They roughly correspond with the five elements of Chinese philosophy: water, metal, fire, wood, and earth. The Fuwa each have as their primary color one of the colors of the five Olympic Rings that stand for the five continents. The five Fuwa are named Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, and Nini. When the first syllable of each of the five names are said together, the result is the phrase 北京欢迎你 (Běijīng huānyíng nĭ) which means "Beijing welcomes you". Tickets The Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee began publicizing in early August 2006 that it will sell over 7 million tickets for various sporting events and ceremonies to the general public. The chief of the committee expressed her hopes that all Chinese people would have a chance to come to the games. The committee has, therefore, set low ticket prices so as to encourage the Chinese people to become more involved in the Olympics. On April 14, 2007, tickets to the general public went on sale through the Beijing Organizing Committee for domestic tickets (which will account for 75% of the sales) and through each nation's NOC for overseas ticket sales. By June 2007, 2.2 million tickets—about a third of the supply volume—had already been sold