"Ping Don Don" .. Panda mascot fever sweeps the country of one and a half billion people
The mascot "Ping Don Don", a panda wearing a ski suit, has swept China as people flock to buy it in a phenomenon that has exceeded expectations and surprised its designer.
While many Chinese line up in front of official stores to buy the small mammals, others seem willing to pay, on the black market, far more than the official price of 200 yuan (28 euros).
Cao Shui, head of the design team for the Bing Don Don mascot, did not expect this success. "With the opening of the Olympics, I expected people to buy it, but not to be very popular overnight," stressing that it "has become a phenomenon."
He joked, "Each of the 14 designers kept one amulet as a keepsake (...) in recent days, we think maybe we should have kept more!", referring to the endangered panda.
The start of the Winter Olympics on February 4 coincided with the Lunar New Year holiday in China and the closing of all factories in the country, with the result that the stores were out of stock.
Some took advantage of the shortage to resell the amulet ten times more than its real price, at a time when the police warned of fraud through the communication sites, where the sellers disappear after receiving the money.
The panda in China has become a national symbol after it has taken refuge in the wild, while the local authorities have been making great efforts for several decades to save this animal from extinction.
The design team has anchored the laughing panda mascot, dressed in a kind of ice-like transparent astronaut costume...or a protective suit, useful in times of pandemic.
Panda mascot fever is sweeping social media, with enthusiasm growing to the point that some are sharing videos of mascots, ravioli or homemade rice cakes bearing the image of Bing Don Don.
Faced with high demand for the mascot, Olympic organizers promised to speed up production, while local media broadcast reports showing workers working overtime in factories.
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