A girl dressed as the Fuwa called Beibei, at the premiere ceremony of The Fuwa Olympic Cruise animation series, in Beijing on Saturday, July 21, 2007.

The five Beijing Olympic mascots known as Fuwa delighted children on Saturday as the animation series, The Fuwa Olympic Cruise, had its grand premiere in the Chinese capital.

The animation debuted as a highlight of the week-long Kaku Cartoon Carnival, which opened on the same day at the Agricultural Exhibition Center.

Acclaimed entertainers Zhang Liangying, Tao Hong, Cao Ying, Jin Haixin and Mei Ting, who voiced the five Fuwa, all showed up at the ceremony.

Supported by the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee, Beijing TV invited a bevy of big-name producers to create a 100-episode animation series as a special tribute to next year's sporting gala.

Among the producers are Hong Kong comic artist Tony Wong Yuk-Long and Taiwan's Ao Youxiang.

In the animation series, the five Fuwa take the audience back in time, on a journey to learn the origin of every Olympic sport.

The first 20 episodes will be screened at the Kaku Cartoon Carnival, and the series is slated to hit the small screen on August 8.

(CRI.cn via china.org.cn July 23, 2007)