The sales of the Olympic licensed products have doubled during
the week-long national holiday, with Fuwa Jingjing the most popular
mascot with foreign tourists, said a saleswoman.
Two Russian boys seem
attracted by stuffed Fuwa products
Chen Hanying, who works at Gongmei emporium on Wangfujing, a
car-free commercial street in Beijing's downtown area, said they
have been so busy selling the products these days that they drink
eight vats of water every day.
With keen observation, Chen said people from different places
are fond of different types of products. For instance, the European
and American tourists love T-shirts with Fuwa images, while Asian
tourists prefer souvenirs with strong Chinese taste such as the
four treasures of study (i.e. writing brush, ink stick, ink slab
and paper). Chinese holidaymakers, on the other hand, have a wider
range of interests, buying all kinds of products, i.e. pins, kites,
cups and glasses.
"From what I can see," Chen said, "the foreign tourists'
favorite is Fuwa Jingjing. This lovely panda may in itself
represent China, so more than 90 percent of the foreign tourists
choose it." Fuwa Jingjing is one of the five Olympic mascots for
the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the others being Beibei the Fish,
Huanhuan the Olympic Flame, Yingying the Tibetan Antelope and Nini
the Swallow.
(BOCOG October 8, 2007)
