An ice panda and a Chinese lantern are the mascots of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games, as unveiled in a ceremony in Beijing on Tuesday.
The Winter Olympics mascot, a panda in an ice suit, is called Bing Dwen Dwen, which translates roughly into Ice Chubby Panda. The mascot for the Paralympic Winter Games is a Chinese lantern with eyes and limbs called Shuey Ron Ron, whose name combines the words ‘Shuey,’ meaning snow, and Ron Ron, meaning integration or tolerance.
The spelling used for both names deviates from the standard pinyin romanization of the Mandarin Chinese characters, which would be Bing Dun Dun and Xue Rong Rong, in order to make it easier for foreigners to pronounce them.
China is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into facilities for its first Winter Olympics. The country hosted its first Summer Olympic Games in 2008.
