The evening of Sunday, February 20 saw the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony. In addition to all the spectacle, it was also a day which saw a lot of Bing Dwen Dwen merchandise sold.
According to the official Olympic flagship store, two million Bing Dwen Dwen-related items were sold out during the final day of the Games.
From 10am until 9pm, customers could try to get in the virtual line every hour, known as 抢 (qiang) in Chinese, to buy items with the loveable panda’s face on it.
Freestyle skiing gold medallist Eileen Gu poses for a picture with a Bing Dwen Dwen toy. Image via Weibo/@北京晚报
However, at 8pm on the evening of February 20, a notice from the store stated that they were out of stock of all the two million Bing Dwen Dwen merchandise items on sale that day.
They stated they were “working hard to satisfy customers’ needs” and to ensure “everyone gets a Bing Dwen Dwen.”
The official mascot of the Winter Games, known in Chinese as 冰墩墩 (bing dun dun), has proved popular among the general public, as well as among those involved in the Games.
First revealed to the public in September 2019, the mascot is a cute and cuddly panda dressed in a futuristic space suit. According to Xinhua News, “Bing Dwen Dwen is designed to be a winter sports expert coming from the future representing a perfect blend of winter sports and modern technology.”
Some die-hard Bing Dwen Dwen fans have emerged over the course of the Games. Jimu News reported on a fan in Beijing by the name of Zhang Wenquan who had a collection of around 400 Bing Dwen Dwen toys.
Zhang reportedly receives around 8,000 private messages per day on his social media accounts, some of which are from less than impressed customers who want to know why he’s hoarding so many Bing Dwen Dwens.
His defense? He started his collection in 2019 and had no idea how popular the mascot would become.
Another Bing Dwen Dwen super fan is that of Japanese reporter Gido Tsujioka. The journalist with broadcaster NTV has been in Beijing to report on the Games and has gone viral on Chinese social media after several videos and photos showed his enthusiasm for the panda.
Japanese reporter Gido Tsujioka showing his enthusiasm for Bing Dwen Dwen. Image via Weibo/@人民日报海外版－海外网
On February 20 as the Games drew to a close, Tsujioka, who earned the nickname “Gido Dwen Dwen,” was seen in a viral video clip saying farewell to Bing Dwen Dwen.
On Weibo, the hashtag “Bing Dwen Dwen” has amassed a whopping 5.71 billion total views.
With the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games set to start on March 4, it’s goodbye to Bing Dwen Dwen and hello to Shuey Rhon Rhon, known as 雪容融 (xue rong rong) in Chinese. The Winter Paralympics mascot is a traditional red Chinese lantern child.
We’ll keep a watchful eye on whether or not Shuey Rhon Rhon matches its Winter Games counterpart for popularity.
[Cover image via Weibo/@澎湃新闻]
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