0132 Friendlies' Curse

By now, everyone has seen the five Olympic Friendlies: the colorful mascots created to welcome this summer’s Olympic Games. The little guys are also known as fuwa which means “good luck dolls” in Chinese. But are they good luck? Internet chat rooms in China are ablaze with accusations that the fuwa are somehow causally related to the recent spate of disasters to hit the Middle Kingdom because the little icons are connected with the areas hit by the disasters: the panda, for example, is from Sichuan, site of a massive earthquake; the antelope is from Tibet, site of much unrest and the little torch, well, you know about the protests. The little fish has, as yet, not been connected with any catastrophe but the Chinese are waiting and possibly thinking: Fuwa? Foo-ee! #ceas #china #greene #vonholten