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•   Le Yangyang to bring peace, prosperity, success and happiness to the continent 

 While the world’s attention is focused on Beijing for the Olympic Games, now less than 100 days away, once the Olympic flame is extinguished on August 24, another Chinese city is already well-prepared to take over the task of establishing the country as a sporting powerhouse. The most recent step in that preparation was taken on Sunday as the Guangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee (GAGOC) unveiled the official mascot of the 16^th Asian Games, to be hosted by the Chinese city in 2010.
 
And like Fuwa, the Olympic mascot, the Asian Games equivalent is steeped in Chinese legend and tradition. One of the designers of Fuwa, was in fact on the panel of seven experts invited to assess the 812 designs submitted by the public and design professionals from the Chinese mainland, USA, Germany, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
 
After 13 months and four stages of public solicitation, screening, experts’ redesign and final refining, GAGOC announced that Le Yangyang will welcome the athletes from 45 nations to the 16^th Asian Games in 2010.
 
Le Yangyang is the collective name for the five goats which will serve as the Games mascots. Dressed in brightly-coloured garb, the sporty-looking goats are symbolic of the city of Guangzhou’s ancient history.
 
Legend has it that thousands of years ago Guangzhou experienced a famine and no food could be grown. The people of Guangzhou could do nothing but pray to the heavens for luck. Moved by their piety, five immortals descended from the heavens, riding on goats with coats of different colors, each holding an ear of rice in their hand. The immortals gave these to the people of Guangzhou and promised that the land would be free from famine.
 
Afterwards, the immortals disappeared into the sky. The five goats that were left behind turned into stone and from that time onwards, Guangzhou reaped a bumper harvest every year and developed into the most prosperous city in the south of China.
 
The five goats of this thousand-year-old legend have gone on to become the most well-known symbol of Guangzhou, and now also the largest Asian Games to date.
 
The distinctively Cantonese individual names of the mascots are: A Xiang, A He, A Ru, A Yi and Le Yang Yang. Combined, the meaning of the names convey the hope of the people of Guangzhou that these Asian Games will bring peace, prosperity, success and happiness to the people of Asia, so fulfilling the vision of a “Thrilling Games and Harmonious Asia”.
 
The goat has a strong association with Chinese culture and tradition and is considered to be an animal that brings luck in many Asian cultures. Through the choice of goats, the fun and loveable mascots will appeal to people of different cultures and religions throughout Asia.
 
The panel of experts who eventually decided on Le Yangyang considered designs from producers of comics and toys as well as numerous university students, 86 advertising companies, 142 design institutes and five cartoon design companies. The general public was also invited to submit ideas. Most designs came from young people, with 92 per cent of designers aged below 40. The youngest was just 10 and the oldest 77 years old.

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