Hot sales

Chinese culture was in demand throughout the Games. Even before they began, the mascot Bing Dwen Dwen－a chubby panda cub wearing an ice shell－was a favorite choice for many, with related merchandise selling out almost overnight in licensed stores.

Athletes and media workers rushed to take pictures with the mascot, while collecting and trading Bing Dwen Dwen pins became customary inside the closed-loop management system introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shan Jixiang, director of the China Cultural Relics Academy, told a news conference on Feb 8 at the Beijing 2022 Media Center that the mascot's popularity was the result of China's increasingly improved soft power.

He described the mascot's design as "very approachable and adorable", adding that the hot sales reflected people's love for Chinese culture. Bing Dwen Dwen is not merely a product, but a successful example of creating a cultural intellectual property, Shan added.

Chinese food also captured global attention, with many athletes posting footage on social networking platforms of themselves sharing meals in the Olympic Village.

Footage of Jenise Spiteri, a snowboarder competing for Malta, went viral after she was caught popping a red bean bun into her mouth while waiting for her score. John Aquilina, Malta's ambassador to China, said this not only earned Spiteri the nickname "bun sister" among Chinese fans, but also gave people in Malta and elsewhere the chance to learn more about the snack.

On Feb 14, during the women's freeski slopestyle qualifier, China's Gu Ailing, who went on to win the silver medal in the event, was also seen munching on a local snack while awaiting her score. When a foreign journalist asked her what she was eating, Gu replied in Mandarin, "Jiu cai he zi."

As there is no commonly known English translation, overseas reporters were left scrambling to clearly explain this snack. The Associated Press described it as "a fried dumpling filled with chives and vermicelli noodles", while The Wall Street Journal said it was "a chive pastry".

The highlight of the Olympics is arguably the breathtaking and intense competition, but it was not only the medal count that trended online. People showed unprecedented enthusiasm for winter sports, discussing the many heartwarming moments they saw while enjoying the Games.

Wang Meng, a four-time Olympic gold medalist in short track speed skating, became an online sensation－not for her past achievements, but for her explicit and humorous commentaries, which many netizens said helped them learn more about the sport.

On Feb 16, at the end of the Alpine skiing men's slalom event, Chinese athletes Zhang Yangming and Xu Mingfu fell and failed to finish. However, they told the media that although their performances were far from championship level, their goal was to make a breakthrough.

Figure skaters Jin Boyang from China and Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan also failed to make the podium, finishing ninth and fourth respectively in the men's singles, but they won many admirers as they pushed themselves to the limit and performed their most difficult moves.

On Sunday, during the figure skating gala exhibition, the pair performed a backbend simultaneously, then stood up, clapped hands and skated hand in hand. Footage of this quickly became a trending topic on social media. One netizen said, "Their friendship is the most beautiful thing in the Olympics."