The mascot, designed by Wu Guanying (吴冠英), professor at the Academy of Arts and Design at Tsinghua University,[2][3] was unveiled on September 6, 2006[4][5] at the foot of the Great Wall of China's Badaling.

A revising group, led by Wu Guanying, looked over the three designs, and found that the dolphin and Monkey King designs could cause problems with intellectual property rights, while the Ne Zha was not suitable.

[6] They considered looking for an alternative design, and Wu came up with the idea of a cartoon cow.

"[6] The colours of Fu Niu Lele come from traditional Chinese New Year drawings and toys.

[6] In the Official Paralympic mascot video, it becomes apparent that the mark on Fu Niu Lele's forehead is made of a dandelion seed pappus.