The 2008 Beijing Olympic Mascots

With just a little over a week to go, all systems are green to go for the Summer Olympics in Beijing, China this August.

Whether its the highly controversial Beijing National Stadium aka Bird's Nest, or the pictograms for the 28 Olympics events this year, many are excited with the outcome of the games especially with China again becoming a main player in the economy of Asia.

The best part of this year's Summer Olympics is not any of the grand-scale preparations, but the small and seemingly trivial subtleties. The mascots are the cutest group to have ever graced the Olympic stage. Not convinced? Take a second look:











The mascots incorporate fish, giant panda, fire, Tibetan antelope, and swallow designs and each have as their primary color one of the colors of the five Olympic Rings. Named Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, and Nini, when the first syllable of each of the five names are said together, the result is the phrase Beijing huanying ni which when translated to English means "Beijing welcomes you!"