Recently, Asahue Ogata, a third-grade elementary school student in Nagoya City, Japan, wrote to our museum expressing his strong interest in the Beijing Winter Olympics and hoping to learn more about the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Winter Paralympic Games and mascots. On October 30, Liu Xiaojun, Consul General in Nagoya, invited Ōnakata to the Consulate General, and the two sides had a cordial conversation.
Consul General Liu Xiaojun presented the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic mascots "Ice Pier" and "Snow Rongrong" plush toys to the students, answered his questions about the Beijing Winter Olympics, and said that the Beijing Winter Olympics will be grandly opened in February next year, and Beijing is also the first "double Olympic city" in the history of the Olympic Games. The prototype of the "ice pier" is a friendly and cute giant panda, and the small red heart of the panda's palm represents the host's warm welcome to the Olympic athletes from all over the world. "Snow Rongrong" is designed and created with Chinese lanterns as the creative idea, which means to light up dreams and warm the world, symbolizes the festive atmosphere of the festival, and condenses the infinite enthusiasm of the Chinese people to celebrate the Winter Olympics.
Okata showed off his collection of "Fuwa" toys, the mascot of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and said that although he had not been to China, he loved ice and snow sports and would go skiing with his family on weekends. I am looking forward to the Beijing Winter Olympics, I often learn the knowledge of the Beijing Winter Olympics with my classmates, and search for relevant information on the Internet, everyone likes the "ice pier" and "snow melting", and thinks they are very cute. I will cherish the gifts given by the Consulate General and share them with my classmates when I go back.
Consul General Liu Xiaojun said that his hometown of Hebei Province is also one of the places where the Winter Olympics were held, and all the preparatory work is basically ready. Due to the epidemic situation, it is regrettable that foreign audiences cannot be invited to watch the game. However, we are willing to share the Winter Olympics with friends from all over the world through various means. "Ice Pier" and "Snow Rongrong" are the messengers of the Beijing Winter Olympics and the Winter Paralympic Games, and the Consulate General is a messenger from China, looking forward to the students of The Shape to continue to care about the Beijing Winter Olympics, go to China after the end of the epidemic, strengthen exchanges with Chinese children, and become the messengers of Sino-Japanese friendly exchanges in the future.
Mother Ōta happily recalled her wonderful experience of studying in China and thanked the Consulate General for the invitation. She said that she bought a cultural shirt for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 and has been cherishing it to this day, and she is deeply pleased that her children took the initiative to pay attention to the Beijing Winter Olympics and wrote a letter to the Consulate General. If there is no epidemic, we plan to go to Beijing with our children to watch the Olympic games. I hope to take this opportunity to let children further understand the Winter Olympics, understand China, wish the Beijing Winter Olympics a complete success, and wish the friendship between China and Japan for a long time!