Now there is a popular superstitious belief that the recent misfortunes and the massive Sichuan earthquake are related to the five Olympic Mascots for Beijing 2008.
The five Olympic Mascots are Beibei, Jinjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini, which actually means “Beijing huanying ni” (北京欢迎你), literally means “Beijing welcomes you”. People have speculated that four of the five mascots have already fulfilled the prophesies of misfortune.
Yingying (迎迎) represents the Tibetan Antelope which is unique to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, one of the first animals put under protection in China. This mascot baby is speculated by some who believes that it is linked to the scene of riots in Tibet and the cause of international protests against China.
Huanhuan (欢欢) is a child of fire. It represents the Olympic Flame and is linked to the Olympic Torch which has been dogged by aggressive anti-China protests on its world tour.
Nini (妮妮) represents a kite that is designed like a swallow and this baby is linked to the world capital of kites – Weifang (潍坊) in Shandong, where a deadly railway accident occurred a month ago, killing 71 people and 416 wounded.
Jingjing (晶晶) is a panda which is closely associated with Sichuan province where the massive earthquake struck.
That leaves only Beibei (贝贝), represented by a Chinese sturgeon fish (中华鲟), which online doomsayers suggest could indicate a looming disaster in the Yangtze River where Chinese sturgeons are found.
Let’s just hope that the victims get back to their normal life asap.
Read all posts related to Sichuan earthquake and Jiuzhaigou National Park Earthquake Report.
Wow! Really? That’s sad. I mean these mascots ought to represent the spirits of the Olympics (strength, hope, sportsmanship, unity…the like) and not catastrophes. Or are they just being overly superstitious and linked them to the mascots? I hope the victims of the calamities recover soon.
PS. This is interesting. I hope it’s okay with tou if I write something about this, too? I love the Beijing 2008 mascots and it saddens me to know they are touted as “bearers” of calamities in China. I will of course put a linky love to TravelerFolio. 🙂
@faeryrowan: Yeah, go ahead. Just an update, in this post, the only one, Beibei, which was said not involved in any “misfortune” yet, is already linked to the South China Flood recently.. Just read about this only.
Anyway, this article doesn’t represent my thoughts about the mascots, it’s just a widely spread rumour that I read from internet and newspapers. =)