Five Olympic mascots① were unveiled exactly 1000 days before the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony. The long-anticipated mascots feature four of China’s most popular animals—the fish， the panda， the Tibetan antelope② and the swallow. The fifth mascot is the brightly burning Olympic flame.
Each of the mascots has a repeated two-syllable name. This type of name is a traditional way of showing 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 their names are put together—they say “Welcome to Beijing！”
The five elements of nature， including the sea， forest， fire， earth and sky are found in the mascot’s origins and headpieces.
These special headpieces also display the unique folk and culture of China. Each mascot also symbolizes a different blessing—prosperity③， happiness， passion， health and good luck.
It is the first time more than three mascots will share the important duty of representing their host country.
Han Meilin， chief of the mascot design team explained that ， “China has such a profound and diversified④ culture that no single mascot could possibly represent it！ That is why we chose to produce five mascots instead of one.”
① mascotn. 吉祥物
② antelopen. 羚羊
③ prosperityn. 兴旺，繁荣，昌盛，成功
④ diversifiedadj. 多变化的；各种的
五福娃
正值北京奥运会开幕式前整整一千天之际，五个奥运会吉祥物揭开了神秘的面纱。人们翘首以待的奥运吉祥物代表了中国最受欢迎的四种动物——鱼、熊猫、藏羚羊及燕子。第五个吉祥物是熊熊燃烧的奥运圣火。
每个吉祥物都有一个叠音名字。在中国，叠音名字是对孩子们表示喜爱的一种传统方式。贝贝代表鱼，晶晶代表熊猫，欢欢代表奥运圣火，迎迎代表藏羚羊，而妮妮代表燕子。把他们的名字放在一起就是“北京欢迎您！”
吉祥物的体形及头饰充分体现了包括大海、森林、火、大地及天空在内的大自然的五大元素。
这些特别的头饰也充分展示了中国的民间艺术及传统文化。每一个吉祥物也代表着不同的祝福——繁荣、欢乐、激情、健康和好运。
这是第一次有三个以上的吉祥物共同承担代表东道国的重任。
吉祥物设计组组长韩美林解释说：“中国有如此博大精深的文化，不是一个吉祥物就能完全展示出来的。所以我们选择设计出五个而不是一个的吉祥物。”
