With less than one year to go before the Olympic Games, sales of Olympic merchandise are apparently growing.
The official mascots of the Olympics the Fuwa (formerly known as the “friendlies”) can be seen all over Beijing on billboards, advertisements, food packages, and especially at the Olympic Flagship Store on the shopping street of Wangfuijing. Aside from Fuwa dolls, T-shirts, caps and other junk, the store sells many types of traditional Chinese tchochkes with the official stamp of the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG). Here is a rundown of items available at the store:
Fuwa paper lantern: ¥48
Fuwa bobble toy: ¥64
Chopstick set: ¥90
Scarf: ¥138
Ping pong paddle notebook and pen: ¥186
Carved stone tea container: ¥680
Book of Fuwa phone cards: ¥2,803
Set of 5 Fuwa jade chop: ¥6,800
Jade and jeweled Tiantan model with Fuwa: ¥16,800
Olympic Games lucky ruyi scepter: ¥17,800