The Most Popular Gifts Featured With Olympic Colors in This Season

For the last few weeks, we've been highlighting great Olympic souvenires where proceeds go to support the athletes of the China Olympics Team.

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While most of us can't jet off to Beijing for opening ceremonies today, you can get your own Olympics souvenir with various great gifts featured with Olympic Games Colors, such as the official mascot plush toys, Olympic pins, a metal replica Olympic torch, a Athens design paperweight or stress-balls, and so on.

So, let's see which gift idea in this Olympics season we favorite?

For Your Little Kids

- Beijing Olympics Mascots (2008 Summer Olympics Gifts)

Even if your kids don't know badminton from taekwondo, they can still appreciate the Olympic spirit in the form of these cuddly fuwa (that's Chinese for "good luck dolls"). These colorful critters represent some of China's most popular creatures. There's BeiBei the fish, JingJing the panda, YingYing the antelope, NiNi the swallow and HuanHuan the Olympic flame. Put their names together and you get "Welcome to Beijing." These pocket-sized collectibles are certainly a step up from mascots in the past, and are great way to educate little ones about the Olympic games and Chinese culture.

Fuwa, The Official Mascots of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, carry a message of peace and friendship to children all over the world. Representing the five colors of the Olympic Rings, Fuwa express the playful qualities of children and are characteristic of four of China's most popular animals -- the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow -- and the Olympic Flame.

For Your Friends

- Beijing Olympic Pins (2008 Summer Olympics Gifts)

Olympics Pin Trading has been around since the first modern Olympics in 1896. The first "pins" were originally cardboard discs that were designed to identify athletes by their countries, officials, and the press. Some Olympians that year started to trade their own badges with others as gestures of goodwill, and a tradition was started. To the right, you see an image of a judge's pin from the 1900 Olympics in Paris.

In the next few decades, more official pins were created to identify different groups, from the International Olympic Committee to members of the media. The pins started to become more stylized and resemble jewelry and eventually were produced for sale to spectators as well as participants. By the time of the 1924 Summer Games in Paris, the concept of the Olympic Village began, and so participants in the Olympics started to exchange their countries' pins in earnest.

From 1933 to 1936, more than 1 million pins were sold to the public to help underwrite the games in Germany. To the right, you see the very rare pin from the 1936 Berlin Games. In 1940, even though the Olympics were cancelled during the war, pins were still produced.

In 1968's games in Mexico City, the pin with a clitch to fasten the pin to clothing, which has become the norm today, was introduced. Pin collecting and pin trading took off in a big way in the Lake Placid Winter Games in 1980 and the Los Angeles Summer Games in 1984. Since then, it's become an international event in itself.

Here are some pins from this year's Olympics in Beijing, for sale from the official shop of the US Olympic Team. These all have the official Beijing 2008 logo. Unlike with other pin shops, you can be sure these proceeds will go directly to support our athletes. Just click on any pin, and you'll be brought to the Olympic Store to buy it.

For Your Parents, Teachers or other Eldership Persons

- Beijing Olympic Torches (2008 Summer Olympics Gifts)

Couldn't get near the real Olympic torch as it made its way round the world? Still keen to hijack the sacred flame for your own political ends?

Hey presto - stage your own Olympic protest with this splendid metal replica torch - only £221.19, including a small Perspex base.

NB Heavy-handed policemen and ex-sportsman torch-bearer not included.

Or

- Beijing Olympic Paperweights and Stress-balls (2008 Summer Olympics Gifts)

Paperweights and stress-balls are so Athens 2004.

The must-have desk toy of 2008 is a 1:1200 replica of Bird's Nest in gold-painted aluminum - a steal at just £153.55.

If that's not enough to impress the drones who work under you, splash out a little extra on a foot-long glue glass replica of the Water Cube on a classy glass and metal plinth (£298.23).

Then, when you bag an inflation-busting bonus, blow a chunk of it on a Beijing 2008-branded replica Ming vase in hand-glazed porcelain.

If you can't manage to claim the £3, 799 back against tax, you need to get yourself a new accountant.

For Your Babies

- Cute Baby Olympic One-piece and Bib for the Future Olympian (2008 Summer Olympics Gifts)

Is there a little 0 to 6 month old in your life who already crawls at world record pace AND who already loves to hit, dive, jump, and dribble with the best of them?

Here's the cutest little gift from the US Olympic Shop. It's a little one-piece and bib for an infant with the Team USA Olympic Rings and the words "FUTURE OLYMPIAN" across the front in maroon on both pieces. Both are 100% cotton, and the bib has a velcro closure.

For Your Girlfriends

- 2008 Beijing china tea set (2008 Summer Olympics Gifts)

I believe that girls or women are sure to be impressed by a Beijing 2008 china tea set, decorated with illustrations of unisex tumbling gymnasts and straining pole-vaulters(about US50 ).

Then, for those big nights out the Cambridge Arts Theatre, what about a necklace of fake pearls with a Beijing 2008-logo clasp (about US30)?

The must-have look autumn/winter 2008? A poly-cotton lime-green tie with a discreet in-laid pattern of the Olympic rings. .

Considering of money saving, accessories it with a set of tinny Beijing-branded cufflinks in dull metallic grey - US$8 the pair.

For Your Boyfriend who like Football

- Want to also have an Olympic athletes T-shirt? (2008 Summer Olympics Gifts)

If you look at pictures of the Brazil or Argentina athletes in the Olympic Village, you'll see them wearing these very stylish polo shirts, T-shirts ?from Nike, of all companies.
The shirt has the official Olympics logo on the right chest, the Nike swoosh on the left, and the words ?Beijing" on the left sleeve to commemorate the 2008 Games. It's an extremely comfortable and light shirt, made of 65% cotton and 35% polyester (also known as NikeFIT DRY for its comfort and its ability to let your skin breathe).

At a reasonable price of $44.99, it's certainly more affordable than the polo shirts with the horses. And of course, a portion of your proceeds goes to help the great USA Athletes who have been doing our country proud throughout these last 12 days.

For Yourself

- Have an Olympic Ball from China (2008 Summer Olympics Gifts)

These are three souvenir balls from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, specifically a souvenir basketball, souvenir soccer ball, and a souvenir volleyball.

They're all regulation-sized, so you can use them for playing these three sports. But they also make great souvenirs from the Games, as they also come with the official 2008 Summer Olympics logo, the words "Beijing 2008?, and the Olympic Rings on them, as well as the official mascots BeiBei, JingJing, HuanHuan, YingYing, and NiNi. You can read all about the meaning of the logo and the story behind the mascots here.