The mascots of Guangzhou Asia Games, collectively known as le yangyang, are five cute and playful friends - a xiang, a he, a ru, a yi and le yangyang. When their names are spoken together - xiang he ru yi le yangyang – it literally means “auspiciousness and joy”, in Chinese.

The mascots represent the hope that the Guangzhou Asian Games will bring auspiciousness, harmony, happiness, success and joy, to the people of Asia and that the vision of the 16th Asian Games - a “thrilling games, harmonious asia” - will be realized, say the organizers.

The designs of the mascots are strongly inspired by the “legend of the five goats”, a famous story about five benevolent celestial beings that descended from the heavens riding on goats with coats of different colors, each holding an ear of rice in its mouth. this 1000-year-old legend has earned guangzhou its best known nickname of “the city of goats” or even “the city of five goats”.

广州亚运会的吉祥物取名乐羊羊，一套5种，为历届亚运会中数量最多的吉祥物。“五羊”是广州市最为知名的一个标志，以五只羊作为吉祥物，充分体现了东道国、主办城市的历史底蕴、精神风貌和文化魅力。这五只羊有着与北京奥运会吉祥物“北京欢迎你”类似的名字，形象是运动时尚的五只羊，分别取名“阿祥”、“阿和”、“阿如”、“阿意”、“乐羊羊”，组成“祥和如意乐洋洋”，表达了广州亚运会将给亚洲人民带来“吉祥、和谐、幸福、圆满和快乐”的美好祝愿，也同时传达了本届运动会“和谐、激情”的理念。

（中国日报网英语点津 陈丹妮编辑）