Nanjing 2014The Mascot

Name

Nanjinglele

In its written form, the name is made up of two identical Chinese characters: 砳砳. The one on the left represents the rain flower stone, while the one on the right is the symbolic name of Nanjing (“the City of the Stone”). “Lele” refers to the noise Yuhua stones make when they come into contact with each other and is pronounced in the same way as the Chinese word meaning “happiness” or “joy”.

Description

Nanjing is famous for its Yuhua stones, which lie on the bed of the Yangtze River and are slowly polished smooth by action of the water. Known as “rain flower stones”, these alluring, translucent pebbles come in shades of red, pink, yellow, white and green. Nanjinglele wears the colour red as a sign of enthusiasm, blue to signify kindness and selflessness; yellow to symbolise motivation and initiative and green to adhere to vitality and a peace-loving spirit.

Creator

N/A

Did You Know?

Following a nationwide competition, stones were selected to become the symbol of the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games in the shape of a character by the name of Nanjinglele.

An accomplished athlete, Nanjinglele is a gifted practitioner of all 28 sports on the Olympic programme. Whether you watched the swimming, wrestling, tennis, archery, rugby or golf, you were sure to see Nanjinglele with friends, inviting you to try your hand at some fun challenges. One thing Nanjinglele is not good at, however, is singing.

Nanjinglele likes nothing more than showing visitors around Nanjing and taking photos with friends from all over the world. Cuddly and affectionate, Nanjinglele is inquisitive, bright-eyed and brave.