Chongqing- Last time, we talked about the mascot Bing Dwen Dwen and how the cute little panda has captured the hearts of people across China and the world. However, you might not know there is another mascot coming up for the Beijing Winter Paralympics, and his English name is Shuey Rhon Rhon, or Xue Rongrong in pinyin, the romanized form of Chinese.
Jiang Yufan is a designer from the Jilin University of Arts, who based the design of Shuey Rhon Rhon on a traditional Chinese lantern, with a small hoop on the top of his head symbolizing good luck, as well as snowy features, patterns taken from Chinese paper cutting, and a red body that shines out warmly.
The Paralympics will start not long after the Chinese Lantern Festival, which marks the New Year festivities. So Rhon Rhon's design has combined these elements by symbolizing the illumination of dreams, warm friendship towards the world, and the courage and determination of Paralympians!
Shuey Rhon Rhon's name is made up of the characters' Xue (雪)' that means snow, 'Rong (容)' which can mean containment, tolerance, and appearance, and a different character also pronounced 'Rong (融)' which signifies to melt. Shuey relates to the beautiful snow and ice we can see in the Olympics, the first 'Rhon' refers to friendship and exchange, and the second represents warmth and harmony.
Today's buzzword phrase!
Note: Shuey Rhon Rhon is the official English name for the Beijing Winter Paralympics mascot that foreigners can pronounce. Xue-Rong-Rong is the standard romanized version of the Chinese name (Pinyin).