Although there is still about a month before the 2024 Spring Festival, the "Auspicious Dragon", mascot of 2024 "Happy Chinese New Year" celebrations organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China, is about to be unveiled at home and abroad.

It is understood that the "Happy Chinese New Year" celebrations have been carried out in more than 100 countries and regions around the world in recent years, becoming a platform for Chinese people and friends from other countries to celebrate this traditional festival, experience Chinese culture and spend a good time together. Last year, the mascot of the Year of the Rabbit in the "Happy Chinese New Year" celebrations produced by HUGKIS, "Auspicious Rabbit", was sent to more than 170 countries around the world as a New Year's gift with high popularity. In the second half of 2023, with rich experience and strength in manufacturing, HUGKIS once again received an order from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to produce exclusively production of this year's mascot, "Auspicious Dragon," in 2024.

In HUGKIS, the reporter saw that the "Auspicious Dragon" is mainly red and yellow. Besides the typical characteristics of the Chinese dragon, it integrates the representative elements of traditional Chinese culture, such as ingots, auspicious cloud patterns, and Peking Opera masks in its face, expressions, and movements, creating the festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival with a typical wish in Chinese culture for peace, joy, and happiness.

"We officially received the design draft on August 3rd last year, completed the preliminary proofing on August 11th, and the pure plush proofing on August 17^th," said Li Lin, general manager of Dongguan HUGKIS Cultural Industrial Co., Ltd., "We found that it needs nearly 100 pieces of the cloth for the head of the dragon. A skilled worker will find it hard to make just one dragon a day, so we propose to use the most common production of the current designer toys: 'PVC + plush', which will make the dragon head more realistic with recognition. Finally, we have just completed the production of the mascot last month."

This year, in addition to the "Happy Chinese New Year" celebrations of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism at home and abroad, the "Auspicious Dragon" will also be used in the market for the first time, bringing new elements to the global Chinese New Year celebrations. Wen Guoxiong, chairman of HUGKIS, said: "This year, we have also obtained the sales license of 'Auspicious Dragon', which will be officially launched in the near future, celebrating the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon with friends from all over the country and around the world."

Last year, Dongguan was awarded the title of "China's Designer Toy Capital", with more than 4,000 toy manufacturers and nearly 1,500 upstream and downstream supporting enterprises, making it the country's largest toy export base. A quarter of the world's animation derivatives and nearly 85% of China's designer toys are made in Dongguan. At present, there are about 30 major toy companies in Chashan Town. Taking advantage of the rapid development of the designer toy industry, many toy companies in Chashan have also actively developed their own toy IP, and have achieved good market response.

Source :Yangcheng Evening News

广东东莞：“吉祥龙”来了，莞产“国礼”即将亮相海外！

距离2024年春节还有约一个月，由文化和旅游部组织设计开发的2024年“欢乐春节”吉祥物——“吉祥龙”即将亮相海内外。

据了解，“欢乐春节”文化活动近年来已在全球百余个国家和地区开展，成为中国和全世界朋友共贺传统佳节、共享中国文化、共度美好时光的平台。去年，由皓奇乐生产的“欢乐春节”兔年吉祥物作为新年礼物，送往了全球170多个国家，在海外深受欢迎。2023年下半年，凭借丰富的经验和强硬的制造实力，皓奇乐再次接到文旅部的订单，负责2024年“欢乐春节”吉祥物“吉祥龙”的独家生产。

记者在皓奇乐看到，“吉祥龙”以红色和黄色作为主色调，在中国龙的典型艺术造型特征的基础上，融入了元宝、祥云纹、京剧脸谱等中华传统文化的代表性元素，应用在五官、表情、动作等细节设计中，彰显春节节日喜庆氛围，表达中华文化对平安喜乐、吉祥如意的美好期冀与追求。

“我们是在去年8月3日正式收到设计稿，8月11日完成初步打样，8月17日完成了纯毛绒的‘吉祥龙’打样。” 东莞皓奇乐文化产业有限公司总经理李琳说，“纯毛绒的‘吉祥龙’打样出来之后，我们发现仅龙头就有近100件裁片，一个熟练工人一天都未必能制作出一个，所以我们提议采用时下潮玩最常见的概念‘PVC+毛绒’，最后制作出的‘吉祥龙’龙头更加逼真并获得认可，公司也刚刚在上个月圆满完成吉祥物的所有订单。”

今年，“吉祥龙”形象除了将广泛应用于文化和旅游部海内外“欢乐春节”品牌活动中，也将首次进行市场化开发和运营，为全球的中国春节庆祝活动带来新元素、新亮点。皓奇乐董事长温国雄称：“今年我们也获得了‘吉祥龙’的销售许可，将于近期正式发售，和全国、全球的朋友一起共贺龙年春节。”

去年，东莞被授予“中国潮玩之都”称号，拥有超过4000家玩具生产企业，近1500家上下游配套企业，是全国最大的玩具出口基地。全球动漫衍生品1/4由东莞制造，中国近85%的潮玩产自东莞。目前，茶山有约30家规上玩具企业。借潮玩产业快速发展的东风，茶山不少玩具企业也积极自主研发潮玩IP，并取得了良好的市场反响。

文、图 | 记者 文聪 通讯员 李绰芝 谢锐坚
译 | 白心怡