Welcome to CharmSpeed & CharmTibet

Amulet & Pendant | Necklace | Ring | Bracelet | Earring | Plaything | Key Ring

Tibetan antelope,one of five doll mascots for 2008 Olympic Games

A set of five doll mascots for the 2008 Olympic Games are unveiled in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 11, 2005, 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(L), the Panda(2nd, L), the Tibetan Antelope (2nd, R), the Swallow (R)-- and the Olympic Flame (C), were presented at a grand ceremony inside the Workers' Gymnasium in Beijing. (Xinhua Photo)

(Xinhua photo)

Photo taken on Nov. 8 shows one piece of the designing draft of mascots for Beijing Olympic Games. (Xinhua photo)

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.

The 2000 Sydney Games featured three animal mascots -- Olly the Kookaburra, Syd the Platypus and Millie the Spiny Anteater.

"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 andsky -- 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 favored the mythical dragon and Jiangsu 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.

Zhada, which means in Tibetan "the place where there are grass in the lower reaches of river", is a County under the administration of Nagri Prefecture. Famous Tuolin Monastery and relic Guge Kingdom stand there. Entering into Zhada County, the clay forest standing on both sides of Elephant Spring River wind over more than five kilometers. Some clay are like the warrior defending the mountain top, some like thousands of horses galloping, and some like devout followers of a religion cultivating themselves, standing there quietly. From different view, you can get different wonderful scenery.

The clay forest is called in Geology "the Level Terrane Physiognomy", which is formed by erosion of water. It is the sediment stratum of lakes and rivers, mainly composed by sandstone and clay. Because the Level Terrane is easy to develop its upright quality and the sandstone like flour is qualified with uprightness, the valley is deep. Even a canaliculus can reach 100 to 200 meters.

The orogenic movement of the Himalaya has made the bottom of the lake ascend. And the undulating earthen forest of dozens of kilometers were formed by the flushing of water subsidence and long years of weathering . Walking in these narrow earthen forests as if a walk in the ruins of an ancient kingdom, desolate but magnificent.

This peculiar and mystic physiognomy densely cover the whole Zhada County. During the Xiangxiong and Guge Kingdom, people made caves to live using this kind of natural resource. Now, more than 400 caves made by Tibetan forebears are found in the clay forest, which forms the the old building group.

How to get there: It takes a dozen hours from Shiquanhe to the earthen forests and the trip covers 255 kilometers. You can hire a car to go and back for three or four days and daily cost is 800 Yuan. The earthen forests are close to the Zanda County seat. It can be reached on foot from the county seat.  

Home | Tibetan Culture | Store | Services | FAQ | Agent | About Us| Forum

Copyright © 2005 by CharmSpeed, all rights reserved.