Tokyo Olympics kicks off after one-year delay Photo:Cui Meng/GT

 Clothing decorated with auspicious animals such as Chinese dragons and phoenixes, and stylists dedicated to making China's Olympians look good, all these reflect that the Chinese Olympic Team is not only focused on winning medals, but also showing the beauty of China to the world.

The fashion displayed by Chinese athletes at the Tokyo Olympic Games has amazed lots of netizens, who say that this is an opportunity for Chinese fashion to stand on the international stage and shine in front of the whole world.

The first stunning moment for Chinese fashion started from the opening ceremony of the Olympics. The Chinese delegation's uniforms used red as a main color, which represents wishes for a good start for Team China.

The Team's uniforms, combining red with white, were designed by a group of designers from the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology. The uniforms are decorated with a peony, which is China's national flower, and the style of the flower was inspired by an ancient Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) bowl at the Palace Museum, according to the Chinese media outlet The Paper.

Some Chinese gymnastics' uniforms also use the traditional Chinese symbols such as the Chinese phoenix. China's trampoline gold medalist Zhu Xueying said she was pleased with her "armor," a uniform that looked like a traditional qipao decorated with a phoenix.

Zhu's uniform became a trending topic on social media, where its related hashtag earned more than 200 million views on Sina Weibo.

Zhu Xueying. Photo: People's Daily

 The bright red uniforms have traditional elements on the neckline - a qipao knot and a Chinese phoenix. While retaining the smooth shape of the phoenix, designers added rhinestones to embellish the phoenix's elegant tail feathers and spread wings to make it look like the mythical beast is soaring into the air.

The gymnastic outfit meant a lot to Zhu and her teammate, both of whom had failed to win trampoline medals at past Olympics. This time, when they stepped into the same arena again during the Olympics, the phoenix pattern on the front of their chest represented the hope that they would soar and dance in the sky.

In the end, these hopes became a reality. 

The uniform for Chen Meng, another gold medalist in the women's table tennis event, was designed especially for her. The uniform is pink as that is Chen's favorite color and the designers embroidered a Chinese dragon on her right shoulder to symbolize that she can take off like a powerful dragon.

"I have been watching the Olympics. The uniforms for the Chinese delegation have added many fashionable elements," Zhang Yan, young Chinese designer who made his New York fashion week debut in 2019, told the Global Times on Sunday.

The most impressive uniforms for him have been those that the Chinese athletes worn on the podiums while accepting their medals.

China's 37-year-old Lü XIaojun has broken the Olympics record and bagged gold in the men's 81kg weightlifting. This is the second gold on Sat for China and its 21st in total.Photo:Cui Meng/GT

 He said that the elements incorporated in the clothing designs, including the curving shapes, the colors and the integration of the Chinese standing collar, make them both beautiful and practical.

"When the athletes stand on the podium, I think the Chinese design is not only charming, but also a kind of new fashion. The confidence shown in the clothing is reallystrong," Zhang said.

Some young viewers have begun to seek out clothing with similar styles. "When I saw the athletes wearing these clothes, I started to imagine what it would be like if I wore them, I think I would be more energetic and elegant," Yang, a 27-year-old fan of the Olympics, told the Global Times.