Emblem and mascots

The games' Q-shaped emblem was inspired by the initial letter of the host city, Qingdao. It resembles a dancer but could also be interpreted as a blooming camellia, the flower of Qingdao, with five petals around Laxi Lake, portraying the city's residents and its spirit. The colors of the petals reflect those of Qingdao's scenery, with red for tiles, green for trees, blue for sky and dark blue for the ocean.

"It represents the human spirit and joyful characteristics of leisure sports," said Xu Hua, artistic director at Tsinghua University, who led the design team for the emblem and mascots.

The mascots for the games are called Laige, or Brother Lai, and Ximei, Sister Xi.

Based on Laixi puppet show characters, the mascots are a couple of cheering children in traditional clothing.

"Cute and innocent, the siblings show positive and optimistic spirits with strong vitality, and that's what the designers want to convey to the public about the games," said Xu.

(China Daily 06/04/2015 page12)