Fuwa
The Fuwa (; literally "good-luck dolls", also known as "Friendlies") were the Olympic mascot, mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The designs were created by Han Meilin, a Chinese artist. The designs were publicly announced by the National Society of Chinese Classic Literature Studies on 11 November 2005 at an event marking the 1000th day before the opening of the games. There are five Fuwas: Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini. Together, the names form the sentence "", or "Beijing huanying ni," which means "Beijing welcomes you". Originally named 'The Friendlies', they were promoted as 'Fuwa' when concerns arose that the name could be misinterpreted. While originally given artistic licence in his commission, Han Meilin was subsequently requested by officials to include various Chinese designs and fauna in the Fuwa. Han Meilin drew 1,000 models of possible Fuwa (including a Chinese dragon, dragon and an anthropomorphic drum) before settling on the five ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Han Meilin
Han Meilin (; born December 26, 1936, in Jinan, ShandongHanban.edu.Hanban.edu." ''Profile of the artist.'' Retrieved on 2008-04-27.Xinhuanet." ''韓美林作品選(圖).'' Retrieved on 2008-04-27.) is a Chinese artist most recognized today for his creation of the Fuwa dolls for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Biography In 1955 he was admitted to the Central Academy of arts and design (), now part of Tsinghua University. In 1960 he graduated. Han is also known to have been tortured in the past. In a 2008 interview, Han admitted his tendon was cut during the Cultural Revolution. His thumbs became useless until later repaired by doctors. ATV news interview with Han Meilin. 04-27-2008. Career In 1979, Han was elected to the China Artists Association (). He has also published influential work such as ''Baoguo Sanwen'' (, ''Bāoguò Sǎnwén''). In 1980, he was in the United States, holding art exhibitions in 21 cities including Boston and New York City. He was given the k ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 28 sports and 302 events, one event more than those scheduled for the 2004 Summer Olympics. This was the first time China had hosted the Olympic Games, and the third time the Summer Olympic Games had been held in East Asia, following the 1964 Summer Olympics, 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, and the 1988 Summer Olympics, 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. These were also the second Summer Olympic Games to be held in a communist state, the first being the 1980 Summer Olympics in the Soviet Union (with venues in Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russia, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukraine, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Byelorussia, and Estonian Soviet Socialis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Giant Panda
The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear or simply panda, is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its white animal coat, coat with black patches around the eyes, ears, legs and shoulders. Its body is rotund; adult individuals weigh and are typically long. It is sexually dimorphic, with males being typically 10 to 20% larger than females. A thumb is visible on its forepaw, which helps in holding bamboo in place for feeding. It has large molar teeth and expanded temporal fossa to meet its dietary requirements. It can digest starch and is mostly herbivorous with a diet consisting almost entirely of bamboo and bamboo shoots. The giant panda lives exclusively in six montane regions in a few Chinese provinces at elevations of up to . It is solitary and gathers only in mating seasons. It relies on olfactory communication to communicate and uses scent marks as chemical cues and on landmarks like rocks or trees. Females rear c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Olympic Mascot
The Olympic mascots are fictional characters who represent the cultural heritage of the location where the Olympic Games are taking place. They are often an animal native to the area or human figures. One of the first Olympic mascots was created for the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble; a stylized cartoon character on skis named Schuss. The first official Olympic mascot appeared in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, and was a rainbow-colored Dachshund dog named Waldi. Since the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the Olympic and Paralympic mascots have always been presented together, which was first done in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. The Youth Olympic Games, which are run by the International Olympic Committee, have had mascots as well. Olympic mascots Youth Olympic mascots See also * List of mascots * Olympic symbols * Paralympic mascots * Paralympic symbols References External links Official site of the Olympic Movement– Images and informa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Americas
The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.'' Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a single continent, the Americas or America is the 2nd largest continent by area after Asia, and is the 3rd largest continent by population. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with their associated islands, the Americas cover 8% of Earth's total surface area and 28.4% of its land area. The topography is dominated by the American Cordillera, a long chain of mountains that runs the length of the west coast. The flatter eastern side of the Americas is dominated by large river basins, such as the Amazon, St. Lawrence River–Great Lakes, Mississippi, and La Plata basins. Since the Americas extend from north to south, the climate and ecology vary widely, from the arctic tundra ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Judo
is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). Judo was created in 1882 by Kanō Jigorō () as an eclectic martial art, distinguishing itself from its predecessors (primarily Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū, Tenjin Shinyo-ryu jujutsu and Kitō-ryū jujutsu) due to an emphasis on "randori" (, lit. 'free sparring') instead of alongside its removal of striking and weapon training elements. Judo rose to prominence for its dominance over Kodokan–Totsuka rivalry, established jujutsu schools in tournaments hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (警視庁武術大会, ''Keishicho Bujutsu Taikai''), resulting in its adoption as the department's primary martial art. A judo practitioner is called a , and the judo uniform is called . The objective of competitive ju ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Olympic Weightlifting
Weightlifting (often known as Olympic weightlifting) is a competitive strength athletics, strength sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with the aim of successfully lifting the heaviest weights. Athletes compete in two specific ways of lifting the barbell overhead. The ''Snatch (weightlifting), snatch'' is a wide-grip lift, in which the weighted barbell is lifted overhead in one motion. The ''clean and jerk'' is a combination lift, in which the weight is first taken from the ground to the front of the shoulders (the ''clean''), and then from the shoulders to over the head (the ''jerk''). The sport formerly included a third lift/event known as clean and press. Each weightlifter gets three attempts at both the snatch and the clean and jerk, with the snatch attempted first. An athlete's score is the combined total of the highest successfully-lifted weight in kilograms for each lift. Athletes compete in various we ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surface area.Sayre, April Pulley (1999), ''Africa'', Twenty-First Century Books. . With nearly billion people as of , it accounts for about of the world's human population. Demographics of Africa, Africa's population is the youngest among all the continents; the median age in 2012 was 19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4. Based on 2024 projections, Africa's population will exceed 3.8 billion people by 2100. Africa is the least wealthy inhabited continent per capita and second-least wealthy by total wealth, ahead of Oceania. Scholars have attributed this to different factors including Geography of Africa, geography, Climate of Africa, climate, corruption, Scramble for Africa, colonialism, the Cold War, and neocolonialism. Despite this lo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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National Symbol Of China
This is the current list of the national symbols of China. The China, People's Republic of China (PRC) controls all of mainland China, while the Taiwan, Republic of China (ROC) controls Taiwan and nearby islands. See National symbols of Taiwan. Both countries used to claim to be the legitimate government of all of China, with Taiwan informally dropping territorial claims in the early nineties. Symbols of the People’s Republic of China See also * National symbols of Taiwan * * References {{Asia topic, National symbols of National symbols of China, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Endangered Species
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, invasive species, and climate change. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List lists the global conservation status of many species, and various other agencies assess the status of species within particular areas. Many nations have laws that protect conservation-reliant species which, for example, forbid hunting, restrict land development, or create protected areas. Some endangered species are the target of extensive conservation efforts such as captive breeding and habitat restoration. Human activity is a significant cause in causing some species to become endangered. Conservation status The conservation status of a species indicates the likelihood that it will become extinct. Multiple factors are ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wood (wuxing)
In Chinese philosophy, wood (), sometimes translated as tree, is one of the five concepts that conform the ''wuxing''. It is the growing of the matter, or the matter's growing expanding stage. Wood is the lesser yang symbol of Yinyang character, fuelling Fire. It stands for springtime, the east, the planet Jupiter, the color green, windy weather, and the Azure Dragon (Qing Long) in Four Symbols. Blue and cyan-type colors also represent wood. Attributes In Chinese Taoist and Traditional Chinese medicine thought, ''Wood'' attributes are considered to be strength and flexibility, as with bamboo. It is also associated with qualities of warmth, generosity, cooperation, and idealism. The Wood person will be expansive, outgoing and socially conscious and courageous but when feeling confined, held back, or misunderstood by others can become easily frustrated and angry. The wood element is one that seeks ways to grow and expand. Wood heralds the beginning of life, dawn, springtime and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |