Shops begin selling 2022 memorabilia

Beijing opened the first seven stores selling licensed products for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games and Paralympic Games on Wednesday, to meet the demand from collectors and sport fans.

The stores offer a series of 140 franchised goods, including silver emblems, key chains, precious metal stamps and clothes for the 2022 Beijing Games.

More than 60 franchised products have been on sale on Tmall since Dec 16, when the emblems for the Games were unveiled.

"Online sales have gone pretty well," said Piao Xuedong, marketing director of the Beijing 2022 organizing committee. "In less than two hours, the commemorative stamps were sold out."

A total of 15 franchise shops will open across the nation by the end of the month, according to the committee.

"We designed the products to satisfy the needs of consumers, and online shop sales were also a good reference for future offline sales," Piao added.

In September, franchise outlets will open in provincial capitals. A blue background with white snow decorates the shops. Advertising videos related to the Beijing Winter Olympics also add to the flavor.

At the store in Beijing's Gongmei Building near Wangfujing Street, a limited edition of 2022 silver emblems on sale attracted the attention of customers.

At 9 am on Wednesday, Zhao Guohua, who wore a scarf for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, bought the first gold rose emblems for his collection.

"I have been collecting emblems since the 2008 Beijing Olympics," the 40-year-old said. "I didn't expect that I would really continue doing this for so long."

At the same time, the Winter Olympics Commemorative Gold Bar was issued in Caishikou Department Store, the biggest gold retail center in Beijing.

Four different sets of the gold bars with emblems ranging from 10 to 100 grams went on sale.

Customers clustered in the store were eager to buy the medals as souvenirs. Cai Xuezhen, a 42-year-old from Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, said she bought three gold bars for her three children back home.

"We just passed by and saw the inauguration ceremony," Cai said. "A gold bar is a good memory for my children and a great Chinese New Year's gift."

Zhang Guoxi, a 62-year-old Beijing native, also bought a gold bar for her 3-year-old granddaughter.

"It's such a happy thing for my little granddaughter to get a gold bar," Zhang said.