Dragon, phoenix ambassadors make debut
故宮博物院吉祥物亮相 “壯壯”“美美”首次與公眾見面
The Palace Museum unveiled its two brand new mascots in Xiamen, in southeast China's Fujian province.
中國東南部福建省廈門市故宮博物院的兩款全新吉祥物首次與公眾見面。
Donning Qing Dynasty costumes, the designs for Zhuangzhuang and Meimei originate from the traditional Chinese symbols of the dragon and the phoenix.
身著清朝服飾的“壯壯”和“美美”設計靈感來源于中國傳統的龍和鳳。
The names of the mascots also bear special meaning.
而它們的名字也有著特殊意義。
"Zhuang," which means strong in Mandarin, represents the gorgeous Forbidden City.
“壯”在漢語意為強壯,代表著宏偉的紫禁城。
"Mei", the word for beautiful, stands for the more than 1.8 million treasures collected within its walls.
而“美”則是美麗之意,代表故宮收藏的價值180多萬件珍品。
Sadly, the mascots did not receive unanimous applause, with some netizens saying Meimei looked more like a penguin than a phoenix.
遺憾的是這對吉祥物并沒有得到一致認可,甚至有網友吐槽“美美”更像一只企鵝而非鳳凰。