Five Olympic mascots were unveiled exatly 1000 days before the Beiling Olympic opening ceremony . The long——anticipated mascots feature four of China's most popular animals——the fish，the panda，the Tibrtan antelope and the swallow .The fifth mascot is the brightly burning Olympic flame.

    Each of the mascots has a repeated two-syllable name. This type of name is a traditional way of showing affection for children in China.BeiBei is the fish，JingJing is the panda ， HuanHuan is the Olympic flame，YingYing is the Tibetan antelope and NiNi is the swallow.When their names are put together——they say "Welcome to Beijing".

    The five elements of nature，including the sea，forest，fire，earth and sky are found in the mascot's origins and headpieces. These special headpieces also display the uniqur folk and culture of China. Each mascot also symbolizes a different blessing ——prosperity，happiness，passion，health and good luck.

    It is the first time more than three mascots will share the important duty of representing their host country .Han Meilin，chief of the mascot design team explained that ，"China has such a profound and diversified culture that no single mascot could possibly represent it ！That is why we chose to produce five mascots instesd of one

    正值北京奧運會開幕式前整整一千天之際，五個奧運會吉祥物揭開了神秘的面紗。人們翹首以待的奧運吉祥物代表了中國最受歡觃的四種動物——魚、熊貓、藏羚羊及燕子。第五個吉祥物是熊熊燃燒的奧運圣火。

    每個吉祥物都有一個疊音名字。在中國，疊音名字是對孩子們表示喜愛的一種傳統方式。貝貝代表魚，晶晶代表熊貓，歡歡代表奧運圣火，觃觃代表藏羚羊，而妮妮代表燕子。把他們的名字放在一起就是"北京歡觃您！"

    吉祥物的訽形及頭飾充分體現了包括大海、蒧林、火、大地及天空在內的大自然的五大元素。這些特別的頭飾也充分展示了中國的民間藝術及傳統文化。每一個吉祥物也代表著不同的祝福——繁榮、歡樂、激情、健康和好運。

    這是第一次有三個以上的吉祥物共同承擔代表東道國的重任。吉祥物設計組組長韓美林解釋說："中國有如此博大精深的文化，不是一個吉祥物就能完全展示出來的。所以我們選擇設計出五個而不是一個的吉祥物。