After fourteen years the Olympic Games have returned to China. The 2022 Winter Olympic Games (冬季奥运会 dōng jì ào yùn huì) are taking place this month in Beijing. Their panda mascot was already introduced to the world a couple of years ago:

Over 5,800 submissions for the design of the 2022 Winter Games mascot (吉祥物 jí xiáng wù) were handed from all around the world. Chinese and international experts chose one to be the Beijing 2022 mascot: the jubilant panda called 冰墩墩 (Bīng dūn dūn). 冰 (bīng) means ice, and 墩墩 (dūn dūn) means robust, and lively.

冰墩墩是2022年北京冬季奥运会的吉祥物。

Bīng dūn dūn shì 2022 nián běi jīng dōng jì ào yùn huì de jí xiáng wù.

Bing Dun Dun is the mascot of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

It is not the first time the panda (熊猫 xióng māo), who is native to China, serves as its Olympic mascot. In the Beijing 2008 Games the panda was one of the five Fuwa (good-luck dolls) mascots. Its name was Jingjing, and with its black and white colors, it resembled the black Olympic ring. The giant panda, China’s national treasure (国宝 guó bǎo), was chosen this time also due to its widespread popularity around the globe.

大熊猫是中国的国宝。

Dà xióng māo shì zhōng guó de guó bǎo.

Giant pandas are China’s national treasures.

And, indeed, the Beijing 2022’s official mascot became a fan favorite. The charm of the young panda dressed in an icy suit swept the people’s enthusiasm. Its popularity rapidly skyrocketed. People queued for hours to buy its figurine. Many wish to purchase this cute Olympics memento. Soon, Bing Dun Dun merchandises were sold out. Desperate fan started making their own DIY souvenirs: paper cut, dumplings, candies, etc. in the shape of Bing Dun Dun. For examples and photos check out this article.

冰墩墩迅速走红。

Bīng dūn dūn xùn sù zǒu hóng.

Bing Dun Dun quickly became popular.

The verb 走红 (zǒu hóng) from the example above is composed of two basic Chinese characters: 走 (zǒu, means to walk) + 红 (hóng, means red, and also popular). Together the phrase means to be popular. Another two-character phrase for popularity is 火爆 (huǒ bào). 火 (huǒ, means fire) + 爆 (bào, means to explode), which together describe a popular craze. For example:

近日冬奥会吉祥物冰墩墩火爆全网。

Jìn rì dōng ào huì jí xiáng wù bīng dūn dūn huǒ bào quán wǎng.

Bing Dun Dun, the mascot of the Winter Olympics, has recently become popular on the Internet.

This short article about people braving the cold weather standing for hours hoping to get one Bing Dun Dun souvenir:

 

Text vocabulary

吉祥物 jí xiáng wù = mascot

冬季奥运会 dōng jì ào yùn huì = Winter Olympics

熊猫 xióng māo = panda

国宝 guó bǎo = national treasure

走红 zǒu hóng = to be popular

火爆 huǒ bào = explosive popularity

好好学习，天天向上！