A Mascot Star Is Born: Bing Dwen Dwen’s Rise from Obscurity

A person poses for pictures in front of an installation featuring Bing Dwen Dwen, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Mascot amidst a snowfall on a street in Beijing, China February 13, 2022. (Reuters)
A person poses for pictures in front of an installation featuring Bing Dwen Dwen, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Mascot amidst a snowfall on a street in Beijing, China February 13, 2022. (Reuters)
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A Mascot Star Is Born: Bing Dwen Dwen’s Rise from Obscurity

A person poses for pictures in front of an installation featuring Bing Dwen Dwen, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Mascot amidst a snowfall on a street in Beijing, China February 13, 2022. (Reuters)
A person poses for pictures in front of an installation featuring Bing Dwen Dwen, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Mascot amidst a snowfall on a street in Beijing, China February 13, 2022. (Reuters)

The mascot Bing Dwen Dwen has been an unexpected star of the Beijing Olympics but the roly-poly panda's fame may prove fleeting after the Feb. 20 closing ceremony.

Bing Dwen Dwen, which translates to "Ice Panda", made little splash when introduced about two-and-a-half years ago, eliciting a collective yawn from social media over yet another panda character for a big Chinese event.

It was propelled to stardom on Feb. 2, when Japanese television journalist Gido Tsujioka showed Bing Dwen Dwen-themed items during a broadcast, a clip of which went viral.

Related topic views that day reached 300 million on China's Weibo social media platform, from 760,164 a day earlier. They doubled again on Feb. 4, the day of the Olympics opening ceremony, and have averaged 400 million since.

Games organizers were caught unprepared, with thousands of fans lining up in sub-freezing temperatures to buy merchandise - from magnets and key chains to bags and stuffed toys - and factories scrambling to make more.

Chinese media fueled the frenzy, showing footage of soldiers marching in front of a Bing Dwen Dwen figure at the base of Mount Everest, while an officially licensed store was selling a limited edition version encrusted in fake diamonds for 2,022 yuan ($315).

Many people wrote online that queuing up for and buying the merchandise is their way of engaging with the Games. Because of COVID-19, no ordinary spectators have been allowed to watch the sports and the torch relay was shortened to three days and off-limits to spectators.

Organizers have not disclosed sales figures but some analysts estimate revenue from Beijing Olympic licensed products could reach 2.5 billion yuan ($395 million).

Bing Dwen Dwen's turn in the spotlight has not been without incident.

State broadcaster CCTV was criticized on social media after a male reporter conducted an interview in a Bing Dwen Dwen suit. Weibo users complained that it ruined the mascot's cuteness by speaking and violated the International Olympic Committee's guideline that mascots are gender neutral. The segment was later removed from the broadcaster's website.

Scalpers were punished for selling merchandise at inflated prices and on Monday, the China Youth Daily reported that a woman selling pirated Bing Dwen Dwen merchandise was jailed for a year and fined 40,000 yuan.

While scarcity has contributed to Bing Dwen Dwen's appeal, organizers have promised to boost supplies. Reports on Sunday of new merchandise arriving in Beijing led to speculation the frenzy would soon cool.

One Weibo user said Bing Dwen Dwen gear would become like masks - in hot demand when COVID started, cheap and plentiful now. Others posted photos of their neglected 2008 Beijing Games memorabilia.

"I don't know how long Bing Dwen Dwen can maintain its fame. I cannot get one now, but I guess it will soon be two-for-one once it's over the hill," one person wrote.



Greenland Seeks to Capitalize on 'Last-Chance Tourism'

A woman looks out from a tour boat as it sails away from a glacier between Maniitsoq and Sisimiut in Greeceland. James BROOKS / AFP
A woman looks out from a tour boat as it sails away from a glacier between Maniitsoq and Sisimiut in Greeceland. James BROOKS / AFP
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Greenland Seeks to Capitalize on 'Last-Chance Tourism'

A woman looks out from a tour boat as it sails away from a glacier between Maniitsoq and Sisimiut in Greeceland. James BROOKS / AFP
A woman looks out from a tour boat as it sails away from a glacier between Maniitsoq and Sisimiut in Greeceland. James BROOKS / AFP

A frozen landscape with breathtaking views, Greenland wants to attract more tourists, but its remote location and fragile environment -- which make it a unique destination -- also pose challenges.
"The effects of global heating are at their most pronounced in the Arctic," Michael Hall, a University of Canterbury professor and tourism expert, told AFP.
Global warming is accelerating "the loss of Arctic sea ice in summer, (as well as) the melting of permafrost, ice shelves and glaciers", he said, referring to elements that contribute to the island's uniqueness.
Across Greenland, locals are witnessing first-hand the effects of global warming.
On the southwestern coast, in Maniitsoq, the sea ice has not been solid enough to walk on since 2018. Residents have also seen it shrink from year to year, in addition to less abundant snowfalls.
Tourists are nonetheless awestruck by the vistas.
"It's terra incognita," said Amy Yankovic, a 55-year-old American tourist.
The Texan native traveled for almost 24 hours to get to Greenland, taking three connecting flights.
Tourism accounts for around eight percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the United Nations, most of which is attributed to transportation.
There is "a kind of 'last-chance tourism', where visiting these endangered sites is about wanting to see them before they disappear", said Emmanuel Salim, a geography lecturer at the University of Toulouse in France.
He said similar destinations such as Churchill in Canada -- known as the "polar bear capital of the world" -- "have tried to position themselves as places for 'learning' about the environment".
But while such destinations can raise awareness about better environmental practices, their carbon footprints continue to rise, he lamented.
Developing tourism in a fragile environment is a tricky balancing act.
"Mitigation of the impacts of global heating on the Arctic is a global responsibility," said Hall, adding that "current mitigation attempts are greatly inadequate."
Greenlandic authorities insist they want a prudent development of the tourism sector, in order to create jobs.
"In recent years we've seen that young people have started to become tour operators," Maniitsoq mayor Gideon Lyberth told AFP.
"We're very, very happy, because young people have been leaving here for Nuuk, to live there, but now they're coming back," he said.
"Clearly such developments will usually be seen as a good idea, at least in the short term," Hall said.