The mascots are depicted dragon boat racing. [Photo/hangzhou2022.cn]
Zhang Wen, a teacher at the Chinese Academy of Art who was born in Jiangbian village, Huangtian sub-district, Yongjia county, Wenzhou, is the man behind the mascots of the 19th Asian Games.
Together with his wife Yang Hongyi, Zhang designed the three lovely mascots Congcong, Lianlian and Chenchen and their dynamic images for 61 different sports.
"Hangzhou's three World Cultural Heritage items as well as our children inspired us to create the mascots," Zhang said.
According to him, Congcong represents the city's 5,300-year-old Liangzhu Culture, an important chapter in Hangzhou's history, and so the mascot is good at traditional sports. Lianlian represents West Lake and symbolizes the poetic and slow life of modern Hangzhou, so the mascot is good at aquatic sports and sports that require technical skill. Chenchen, which represents the Grand Canal, brings the idea of endlessly moving forward and is adept at ball games and games that require speed.
"Unlike former mascots, which usually take the shape of animals or human beings, the mascots for the Asian Games this time are robots in an effort to promote Hangzhou's digital and intelligent image," Zhang said.
He added that his favorite version of the mascots is the one for dragon boat, as it is the only one that includes all three mascots and the sport will be held in his hometown of Wenzhou.
Zheng Wen and his wife Yang Hongyi are designers of the Hangzhou Asian Games mascots. [Photo/WeChat account: iwenzhou]
