Athletes stepping onto the podium in Beijing won’t just have a medal to take home.
All medal winners will receive a special souvenir for their achievement – featuring the panda mascot Bing Dwen Dwen and a golden wreath of pine, bamboo and plum blossoms, a motif Traditional Chinese art known as “winter’s three friends.”
The trio are known as such because they don’t wither in winter, embodying “steadfastness, endurance, and resilience.”
According to the official Olympic website, “Bing” has several meanings in Mandarin, although the most common is ice. The word also symbolizes purity and strength.
“Dwen Dwen” means strong and lively, and also represents children.
The official Olympic website said that the Bing Dwen Dwen design – created by Cao Xue – was selected from more than 5,800 entries from China and 35 countries within the framework of the global competition organized by the Beijing 2022 organizing committee. organization.
