Five cartoon images of goats were unveiled on Monday night as the mascots for the 2010 Asian Games to be held in south China's city of Guangzhou.

Vice chairman of Guangzhou Asian Games organizing committee, Zhang Guangning says that goats have a long association with the city.

"Mascots for Asian Games are representations of the unique cultures of host cities. The final design for the 2010 Asian Games was developed out of the legends of Guangzhou, which is nicknamed the City of Goats."
The mascots are named A Xiang, A He, A Ru, A Yi and Le Yangyang. In Chinese, Xiang means auspiciousness, Ruyi means the satisfaction of a wish, and Le Yangyang means joyful.

Here's Zhang Guangning again.

"When you put all the five names together, they are the hopes of people of Guangzhou and across China that the Games will bring peace, auspiciousness and happiness to the people of Asia."

Representing the five colors of the Olympic rings, the mascots are quite similar to those of the Beijing Olympics.

Since last March, more than 800 entries from eight countries and regions were submitted. The winner was decided in January, after an initial proposal was improved and refined.