“Bing Dwen Dwen,” the mascot of the Beijing Games, is the real star for the Chinese deprived of grandstands.
© AFP
The Grail, in China
Between 15’000 and 20’000 guests for the opening ceremony. A total of about 150’000 sesame for spectators outside the Olympic bubble – often people who know the right people – in everything and for everything. And then that’s it. The Chinese people, the real one, see their 2nd Games in 14 years only from afar. Often, by the way, he has only the bad sides of it. At the Olympic venues located in the mountains, it is quickly seen: no one can go to see the alpine or bobsleigh and Yanqing is closed for double rounds. A group of lucky people, on the other hand, can invite themselves to Zhangjiakou, vibrate for freestyle or nordic sports with small flags and tidy in the stands.
Thus, in order to be able to keep a small trace of the passage of the best skiers, cross-country skiers, hockey players or skaters on the planet, the “little people” do not really have a huge choice. He has to fall back on derivatives. And at this little game, there is one that is all the rage. His name is Bing Dwen Dwen. This is a very cute giant panda with an ice habit, which looks a little like a Taikonaut, the Chinese version of Western astronauts. According to the official version, the mascot drawn by a certain Cao Xue, chief designer of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, is supposed to represent “harvest, celebration, warmth and light”.
The carton is total. In the city, the Pekingese waited at least an hour in a queue for the right to buy the precious. When there were still some. At a store in the capital, the few stuffed animals available on Monday left in 30 minutes. More than 5000 pieces left in one hour on the Alibaba website last Friday. In the mountain, at the Zhangjiakou press center, stocks were quickly depleted. “But we are going to receive a delivery on Saturday morning,” one of the four saleswomen of the shop desperately empty of customers apologized, as soon as Bing Dwen Dwen is no longer on the shelves.
“We are aware of this shortage of certain products stamped JO 2022, especially those with Bing Dwen Dwen,” read a statement carried by the Xinhua News agency. It happened due to a huge demand and the closure of factories during the Chinese New Year holidays. When everything has reopened, they will speed up production in order to ensure high demand.»
“It’s so Chinese,” a Chinese woman who did not wish to be identified told us furtively. The people are like that here. The consumer society is worse than in the West. Everyone is always glued to their phone and if a social media star has the misfortune to do something, everyone will rush to do the same. And there are 1.4 billion people in the country, so it can create things like that. Whereas initially, no one wanted it. They said it was just a panda plush toy with a condom on it!»
His alter ego from the Paralympics, on the other hand, is less successful. Shuey Rhon Rhon is a typical Chinese lantern, but with eyes. “No one here seems to have been shocked that the organizing committee is using a live animal for the Olympic Games and an inert object for the Games for people with disabilities,” despairs our local interlocutor.