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This queue in Beijing is for what many see as the biggest prize of the Olympic Games - merchandize featuring panda mascot "Bing Dwen Dwen".

Hours after Beijing's Winter Olympics officially opened on Friday (February 4) night, shoppers lined up in the bitter pre-dawn cold to get their hands on souvenirs in the form of the chubby bear in a hard transparent body suit.

The name of the mascot "Bing Dwen Dwen" is officially translated as "Ice Child", but it includes a "roly poly" sense.

By 2 p.m. on Saturday (February 5), everything was sold out.

Guo Jiaxing was one of the lucky ones that got in the store in time.

"We queued from 7:50 in the morning till 12 noon. It was already past 12 o'clock when we walked out."

But not everyone got what they wanted.

Disappointed customers were asked to come back after Wednesday, when factories resume production after the Lunar New Year holiday and stocks will be replenished.

24-year-old Ren Yi had wanted to buy a set of seven Bing Dwen Dwen figurines for his girlfriend but came away empty-handed.

A security guard at the store said it had been selling Olympic souvenirs for a year.

But the crowds in the last few days appeared out of nowhere and snapped up a year's worth of stock.