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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)
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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.

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Varieties

Jill Biden Gets Priciest Gift from a Foreign Leader in 2023 — a $20,000 Diamond

US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden walk on the South Lawn of the White House as they return to Washington, DC, from Camp David, on January 2, 2025. (Photo by Chris Kleponis / AFP)
US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden walk on the South Lawn of the White House as they return to Washington, DC, from Camp David, on January 2, 2025. (Photo by Chris Kleponis / AFP)
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Jill Biden Gets Priciest Gift from a Foreign Leader in 2023 — a $20,000 Diamond

US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden walk on the South Lawn of the White House as they return to Washington, DC, from Camp David, on January 2, 2025. (Photo by Chris Kleponis / AFP)
US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden walk on the South Lawn of the White House as they return to Washington, DC, from Camp David, on January 2, 2025. (Photo by Chris Kleponis / AFP)

President Joe Biden and his family were given tens of thousands of dollars in gifts from foreign leaders in 2023, according to an annual accounting published by the State Department on Thursday, with first lady Jill Biden receiving the single most expensive present: a $20,000 diamond from India’s leader.
The 7.5-carat diamond from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was easily the most costly gift presented to any member of the first family in 2023, although she also received a brooch valued at $14,063 from the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States and a bracelet, brooch and photograph album worth $4,510 from the president and first lady of Egypt.
The US president himself received a number of expensive presents, including a commemorative photo album valued at $7,100 from South Korea’s recently impeached President Suk Yeol Yoon, a $3,495 statue of Mongolian warriors from the Mongolian prime minister, a $3,300 silver bowl from the sultan of Brunei, a $3,160 sterling silver tray from the president of Israel, and a collage worth $2,400 from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Federal law requires executive branch officials to declare gifts they receive from foreign leaders and counterparts that have an estimated value of more than $480. Many of the gifts that meet that threshold are relatively modest, and the more expensive ones are typically — but not always — transferred to the National Archives or put on official displays.
The $20,000 diamond was retained for official use in the White House East Wing, according to a State Department document, while the other gifts to the president and first lady were sent to the archives.
Vanessa Valdivia, a spokesperson for Jill Biden, said the diamond will be turned over to the archives after they leave office. According to The Associated Press, she did not say what it was being used for.
Ukraine's ambassador, Oksana Markarova, said Friday on Facebook that a Ukrainian designer fashioned the brooch from the remains of a Russian rocket and that the piece was made from inexpensive materials, so its “true value ... lies in its symbolism." The embassy's spokesperson, Halyna Yusypiuk, said US officials provided the assessed value.
Recipients have the option to purchase the gift from the US government at its market value, although that is rare, particularly with high-end items.
According to the State Department’s Office of Protocol, which compiles the list that will be published in Friday’s edition of the Federal Register, several employees of the CIA reported receiving lavish gifts of watches, perfume and jewelry, nearly all of which were destroyed. Of the gifts destroyed, they were worth more than $132,000 combined.
CIA Director William Burns received a $18,000 astrograph, which is a telescope and astrological camera, from an foreign source whose identity is classified. That is being transferred to the General Services Administration. But Burns reported receiving and destroying an $11,000 Omega watch, while numerous others did the same with luxury timepieces.
Below the rank of director, the CIA employees who reported gifts are not identified, but one of them logged an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra watch, a ladies Omega Constellation watch, a diamond necklace, earring bracelet, and a ring that were valued together at $65,100.