A chubby round panda decked out in a suit of ice has become a national sensation in China, with people in Beijing lining up in freezing temperatures overnight for the chance to buy stuffed versions of the Winter Olympics mascot.
Those who do not want to line up are paying as much as 17 times the retail price for toys featuring the panda named Bing Dwen Dwen.
Prices have surged so much on the secondary market — stuffed toys are selling for more than US$500 online — that police in Beijing have issued public warnings against buying the mascot from scalpers.
Photo: AFP
As of yesterday, they had punished three people in a crackdown over price gouging.
The start of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, which began on Friday last week, has helped fuel the frenzy, as have social media memes of the mascot dancing at the opening ceremony and struggling to squeeze through doors.
A clip of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) suggesting that Prince Albert II of Monaco take two of the toys home for his twins has further propelled Bing Dwen Dwen’s popularity.
Exacerbating the situation has been a shortfall in supplies.
Because the opening ceremony fell in the middle of the Lunar New Year holiday this year, many of the factories producing Bing Dwen Dwen toys were closed just as demand for the mascot surged.
Beijing Winter Olympics spokesman Zhao Weidong (趙衛東) at a briefing on Sunday said that officials were taking steps to remedy the situation.
“We’re now making efforts to coordinate the production and supply of Bing Dwen Dwen,” Zhao said.
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