2008 Mascots

Officials for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China recently announced the event's official mascots to mark the 1,000 days until the Games begin. Unlike the typical number of one or two mascots, the Beijing Games will feature five official mascots. Each mascot represents each of the five rings on the Olympic flag. The mascots are known as the five friendlies and when their names are run together it is the Chinese phrase for "Beijing welcomes you." As pictured above, the mascots are:

Beibei the blue fish
Jingjing the black (and white) panda
Huanhuan the red Olympic flame
Nini the green swallow
Yingying the yellow Tibetan antelope

I imagine that stuffed animal versions of all five of the Friendlies will be flying of the shelves (at least in China) as we get closer and closer to the 2008 Games.