Photo: Courtesy of Beijing 2022 organizing committee

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games pin culture week was launched in the capital city on Saturday to embrace the 200-day countdown to the opening of the Games, which falls on Monday. 

A pin trading center for the Games was also set up as part of the activities of the cultural week. The trade center will organize pin exchanges every Saturday before the Beijing 2022 Olympics and every day during the Games. 

The center, which was established on Saturday, has become the longest running official pin trade center for Olympic Games. 

Originating in Athens, the Olympic emblem pin was initially used to distinguish athletes, officials and the news media. The trading of Olympic pins later became a custom when some athletes exchanged their emblem pins as a way to send good wishes to each other. 

A total of 662 pins have been listed among the licensed products of the Beijing Winter Games. Among them, 342 are unlimited pins and 320 limited ones.

During the cultural week, an Olympic pin exhibition also opened to the public, where more than 9,000 emblem pins contributed by 60 Olympic pin collectors from across China were being displayed.

A personalized pin-making machine was also unveiled at the event. The machine allows users to laser their personal images onto the Olympic-themed pins using a simple procedure.

As of Saturday, 53 out of 57 projects for the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing and Yanqing  had been finished, with the remaining four projects due to be completed by 2021, according to the Beijing Municipal Office of Major Projects. 

The construction and renovation of the National Stadium, known as the Bird's Nest, for the opening and closing ceremonies is scheduled to be completed by October.