CityU’s Arts Studies PhD students design 2022 Beijing Paralympic Winter Games mascot: Shuey Rhon Rhon

With the opening of the 2022 Beijing Paralympic Winter Games just around the corner, the mascot “Shuey Rhon Rhon” (Chinese: 雪容融) is lighting up the dreams and hopes of the athletes participating in the Games.

The Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games launched a global call for mascots on 8 August 2018. After a rigorous selection, the mascot designed by Su Dawei and Guo Yufeng – PhD students of Arts Studies of the City University of Macau – stood out from nearly 6,000 submissions as the mascot for the 2022 Beijing Paralympic Winter Games.

Let’s go behind the scenes and listen to the creative and impressive story of Shuey Rhon Rhon.

Shuey Rhon Rhon is a chubby, childlike red lantern, preparing a grand welcome ceremony to greet the world and inviting friends from all over the world to gather in Beijing to celebrate peace and the Games. Shuey Rhon Rhon shines a light on the future for those in adversity and with hope in their hearts, giving people the courage to let dreams fly.

Shuey Rhon Rhon, the lovable Paralympic mascot, is created with human features. It incorporates many traditional Chinese elements, including lanterns, the Great Wall, and the Temple of Heaven, highlighting Chinese traditional cultural heritage together with elements of ice and snow sports.

In the Chinese language, 雪 (Shuey) means snow and 容融 (Rhon Rhon) has a triple meaning of inclusion, tolerance and integration, while the melting snow on the face represents the coming of a fruitful year. Its red and golden design emanates warmth, showing inclusiveness and willingness for communication. Shuey Rhon Rhon symbolises exchange, mutual understanding and harmonious development of human civilisations and the vision of creating a more inclusive world through the Paralympic Winter Games and building a community of a shared future for humankind.

The design team received valuable opinions from the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Winter Games and made many revisions to the original design. Two students from CityU Macau worked together with the team for over 300 days, making more than 20 trips revising 32 sets of proposals and more than 10,000 sketches. In an interview, designers Su Dawei and Guo Yufeng said that the work is contributed to CityU's education on traditional Chinese culture.

“From President Xi Jinping’s 2022 New Year’s greeting to the two adorable mascots – Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon - on his bookshelf; we can tell that the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics is in full swing, the mascots have become a beautiful sight at the stadium. Their names have become a buzzword on overseas social media platforms, topping the list of most searched words for several days in a row,” said PhD student Su Dawei, designer of Shuey Rhon Rhon.

“Being one of the designers, I would like to thank the Research Centre for Arts Education of the City University of Macau. With the mission to promote Chinese traditional culture and innovative development, the Centre integrates Chinese traditional culture with art education. During my doctoral studies, the Centre provides me with the knowledge and artistic strength to convey Chinese traditional culture in visual presentation, allowing me to tell Chinese stories through the design of Shuey Rhon Rhon,” said Su.

“Since its launch, Shuey Rhon Rhon has shouldered more responsibilities and played a role than we initially expected. Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon has become the first Olympic mascots to land on Mars. The two mascots have become the friendly ambassador for Chinese leaders to deliver New Year greetings, attending the Chinese New Year Gala, and becoming a much-loved companion for Chinese and foreign friends, and today, that is hard to find one to own,” said PhD student Guo Yufeng, the designer.

“It is important to note that the creative elements of Shuey Rhon Rhon, such as the melting snow, the figure of the lantern and the decorative pattern of paper cutting, are all cultural concepts, visual symbols and artistic expressions that come from our profound traditional Chinese culture. These cultural aspects, visual symbols, and forms of artistic expression, such as the paper cutting in the decorative motifs, are all derived from our rich Chinese heritage. We present our interpretation of traditional Chinese aesthetics to a worldwide audience through visual communication design. These insights come from the cultural nourishment we have received over time and are also inextricably linked to what I have gained from my PhD programme of Art Studies at CityU Macau,” said Guo.

Since its establishment, the Research Centre for Arts Education of the City University of Macau has developed a unique advantage by integrating traditional Chinese culture with arts education to nurture outstanding talents. The Centre guided both teachers and students to achieve outstanding results in different fields and has given impetus to the arts and culture development in Macao.

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Source: Faculty of Innovation and Design