On April 3, 2020, the organizing committee of the 19th Asian Games 2022 in Hangzhou officially unveiled the three mascots to the world. With Covid-19 social distancing measures still in place, mascots Congcong, Lianlian and Chenchen were introduced to the public in an online launch ceremony.

Zhang Wen and Yang Yihong, the designers of the triplets, felt thrilled and satisfied when watching the images of the mascots on their mobile phones. The names of the mascots came from the city’s three World Heritage sites, namely, the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu Culture, the West Lake, and the Grand Canal.

Zhang and Yang are a husband and wife design team. Both are teachers at China Academy of Art. Yang is a gold prize winner at a national graphic design competition. They named the three mascots after a poem titled Memories of Jiangnan by Bai Juyi (772-846) of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). When the couple submitted their design work, the names of the three mascots were derived from Bai’s poem.

The organizing committee of 19th Asian Games 2022 Hangzhou sent out invitations on April 16, 2019 to the world for a design of mascots. Altogether, 4,633 submissions were received from home and abroad. In August, 11 jurors examined all the works, which were displayed orderly without showing designers’ names. Han Meilin, who masterminded the mascots for 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, was the head of the jury. He paid special attention to works by young designers. Whenever there was a chance for some designs to reenter the consideration, he would prefer those by young designers. “We don’t overlook any hopeful designs and we take responsibility for all the works submitted,” said Han. After rounds of reviews, the long list was shortened to 100, then to 50, and then to 10. Finally, four were recommended to the organizing committee for further consideration.

Zhang and Yang say that the designing resembled the birth of their daughter. While working at the drafts, they thought about their daughter, how the baby girl smiled, how she did this or that. The inspiration from their daughter was translated into their designs.

Pretty soon, three were picked out of the four. The organizing committee commissioned three independent panels, set up by China Academy of Art based in Hangzhou, to help finalize the designs. Experts from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Tsinghua University and Tongji University provided suggestions and advices. In the busy months, Zhang and Yang followed a hectic daily routine. They taught in the morning, worked in the afternoon to fine-tune the designs in response to feedback from experts. Then they picked up the baby daughter from the nursery school and got her to the care at a children’s center for a while when they got their latest revisions printed out at a printer’s shop. And then they picked up their baby girl and off they went to visit the office of the organizing committee to present their revisions and receive new feedback. Altogether the couple revised their designs more than 50 times.

In November 2019, the husband-wife’s designs were finalized and submitted for the final decision. Eventually, their three mascots, directed by Song Jianming, art director of Hangzhou Asian Games and head of a panel of experts, were selected as the final recommendation to the Olympic Council of Asia for approval. On January 13, the Olympic Council of Asia notified the organizing committee of its approval for the use of the mascot triplets.

Zhang Wen and Yang Yihong have been in Hangzhou for 14 years. In the city, they received college education, they became art teachers, and they fell in love, got married and had their first baby. Their life is interwoven intimately with the life of Hangzhou.