Between August 8th and 24th, 2008, Beijing, capital of the People’s Republic of China, will host the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, occasion on which Romfilatelia will release a new philatelic issue dedicated to the event.
Organized every four years, the Olympic Games are by far the most important sport event during the year it is held. Host of the Olympic Games for this year’s edition, China has conducted extensive work and set up an important number of stadiums and sports arenas all of them being world premières in regard to the engineering and architectonic concepts. Ever since the summer of 2006, the Chinese representatives revealed to the world the 35 pictograms symbolizing 35 sports disciplines and launched the first signals of the Radio Station devoted to the grand sports event. The Radio Station broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in Chinese, Russian, English, French, Spanish, Arabian, Japanese, Korean, and German. In order to facilitate communication, in the autumn of 2006, China launched a telecommunication satellite.
Exactly 1000 days prior to opening of the Olympic Games, China unveiled the mascot of the event - Fuwa, meaning children that bring happiness and fortune. The concept is made up of 5 dolls that, according to ancient Chinese philosophy, symbolize the 5 primary elements that make up the Universe (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water).
Jingjing, the black mascot under the form of a Panda bear, represents wrestling sports. Huanhuan, the red mascot representing the Olympic flame, symbolizes ball sports. Beibei, the blue mascot representing a fish, is a symbol of the aquatic sports. Yingying, the yellow mascot representing the Tibetan antelope stands for athletics. Nini, the green mascot envisaging a swallow, corresponds to gymnastics.
The route of the Olympic flame will cover a distance of over 135,000 kilometers and will last for approximately 130 days. It will cross five continents and reach the highest mountain peak in the world, Everest. On August 8th, 2008, at 8 PM, the National Stadium in Beijing will host the opening ceremony for the 29th edition of the Olympic Games. We should note that the Chinese culture associates prosperity with that number 8.
Harmoniously combining the graphic exquisiteness with the nobility of the sports, the postage stamps of the issue (illustrating such sports as: athletics, gymnastics, swimming, and rowing) are meant to be an artistic transposition of the essence and spirit of the Olympic Games and, at the same time, the way they are interpreted by sport lovers in Romania, a metaphoric liaison to the People’s Republic of China, the host country of the Olympic Games.
