The medals of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games Photo: VCG

 The medals for the upcoming 2022 Beijing Olympic and Paralympics Winter Games were unveiled by the Beijing organizing committee on Tuesday. The designs for these sleek-looking gold, bronze and silver medals reveal a creative design ethos that focuses on China's cultural creativity. 

Adopting the theme tongxin (Lit: same heart), meaning "to be in one," the medals' design resonates with the Olympic Game's pursuit of bringing the world together with respect to difference and diversity. In resonating with the "one" concept, the medal's body took inspiration from the ancient Chinese bi, a type of flat disk often made from jade that was believed to have religious significance. There are five circles on the surface of the medal that not only refer to the five Olympic rings' message of binding the five continents together, but also symbolize the harmonious connotation represented by the bi. 

"The bi's round shape symbolizes the state that 'Heaven and Earth' are one and so represents 'harmony.' As a ceremonial object used on significant occasions, this also shows the importance of the Games to the country and our respect for the world," Zhu Fangming, a culture expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

On the back of the medals are 24 dots that form thin sparkling lines that were inspired by early astrological charts in China, each dot is like a bright star shining in the night sky and therefore symbolizes the bright unlimited potential of the athletes. 

The Paralympics medals have the same dots, but also sport the addition of Braille. Since the Winter Olympic medals need to be larger than the Summer Olympic medals in order to stand out from the heavier clothing the athletes wear, the design team settled on medals that are 8.7 centimeters in diameter. 

As the Winter Games will be held in Beijing, a "double Olympics" city that was also the host of the 2008 Olympic Games, the new medal design also pays tribute to the 2008 gold inlaid with jade design but makes some improvements to its texture.

The design team used indenting and engraving to give the medal a modern look and also changed the shining surface to a subtle semimatte surface to symbolize humbleness and reserve, which are considered important virtues in Chinese culture. 

Beside the medals, the boxes that will go with them also have a cultural background to their design as they will be made from bamboo to resonate with the "green Olympics" concept. 

The medals were designed by a team of teachers and students at the Central Academy of Fine Arts led by designer Hang Hai, who was also a core member of the team that designed the 2008 gold-with-jade medals. 

The medal designs were unveiled to mark the 100-day countdown to the Games, which start in February 2022.

Beijing 2022 unveils the design of the medals for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games on October 26, 2021, exactly 100 days before the Games begins. Photo: Courtesy of Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games