In the beginning of spring, Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon became famous as the mascots of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics.

With the convening of the Winter Olympics, their various types of derivatives are popular among the public.

 

Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon were launched in September 2019, and now different types of mascot figures have been derived. Among them, the ceramics Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon produced in Dehua, the world's ceramic capital, was snapped up as soon as it was listed.

Ceramic itself has Chinese characteristics and is a symbol of Chinese culture. Using ceramics as a carrier to express the pair of mascots is a perfect combination, allowing more people to understand China and the traditional craft of ceramics.

How to produce Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon with ceramics representing Chinese elements? The thousand-year-old Dehua porcelain firing technique gives the answer. It is reported that when the mascot came out, the ceramic enterprise from Dehua immediately designed it according to the prototype, and proofed it dozens of times to ensure that the quality and appearance conform to the original design. Since ceramic production is easily restricted by physical effects, during the molding stage, the head and feet of Shuey Rhon Rhon are prone to breakage, while the feet of the panda Bing Dwen Dwen will crack, and the decals on the face are difficult to fit. After repeated communication and testing, the final mascot sample passed the review of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee and entered standard production.

 

The ceramic version of Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon are purely hand-made by ceramic craftsmen. They must go through dozens of processes such as sculpture, grinding, billet making, kiln firing, coloring, decal decoration, glaze spraying and color fixing, and drying. It took about a month to complete. Among them, the gypsum mold takes 48 hours to dry, and it is easy to deform if the time is insufficient; the 20-centimeter ice pier must be cooled for two hours after grouting before determination. The temperature is too high or too low, which will affect the success rate of determination; For air-drying, too high humidity will cause cracking during subsequent firing. Workers have to use electric fans to speed up air-drying in days of rainy weather.

There is no doubt that whether it is the lovely Bing Dwen Dwen or the festive Shuey Rhon Rhon, it not only shows the ingenuity and strength of Chinese manufacturing, but also hides the thoughts and dreams of craftsmen.

In addition to ceramic Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon, there are ceramic versions of  many classic characters in Marvel movies (like Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, etc.) and well-known anime characters (such as Mickey Mouse, Princess Elsa, Snow White, Little Yellow Man, Winnie the Pooh, Snoopy, Astro Boy, etc.) have been around for a long time.