President of China launches Olympic torch relay

President of China launches Olympic torch relay

Apr13,2008

Chinese President Hu Jintao lit a cauldron in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square with the Olympic torch on Monday, marking the official start of the round-the-world relay.

The ceremony kicked off in the square in the heart of Beijing two hours after a special chartered Air China plane carrying the flame from Greece touched down. People dressed in colourful costumes performed acrobatics, danced and displayed their martial arts skills to mark the arrival of the torch, 130 days ahead of the Olympic Games.

Beijing Olympics’ chief organiser Liu Qi, who brought the flame back in a lantern, extended his gratitude to Greece and the International Olympic Committee.

“The Olympic flame symbolises the Olympic spirits — hopes and dreams, brightness and happiness, friendship and peace. With the spirits, it has come to the land of China,” he said. “With the efforts of the torch relay cities and all concerned parties, the longest Olympics torch relay ever, covering the largest area and including the most participants, will achieve full success,” said the official.

The relay “will deliver the Olympic dream and spirit to the Chinese people and send the friendliness and best wishes of the Chinese people to the world.” On a platform surrounded by white marble railing and covered with a red carpet, Mr. Hu lit the cauldron and handed the torch to Olympic men’s hurdles champion Liu Xiang, who ran towards the Tiananmen Rostrum.

Vice-President Xi Jinping, a member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, delivered an address.

Zhou Yongkang, a member of the nine-man Political Bureau Standing Committee, and other CPC and state leaders attended the ceremony. Also present was IOC Coordination Commission chairman Hein Verbruggen, who addressed the ceremony on behalf of IOC president Jacques Rogge.

The flame excited many Chinese, who crowded around screens in shopping malls and railway stations to watch the event.

“It’s hard to describe my feelings now, which are a mixture of excitement and expectation,” said Li Yue, a Renmin University of China student. Na Heli, whose father was a torchbearer for the Athens Olympics and who himself will participate in this relay.

“I do hope that I could pass the Olympic Park, where my ancestors lived and where I now work, with the torch in my hand,” he said.

Not everyone could take time off work to watch the ceremony. Among these people was Tan Xiaochun, who is in charge at the National Stadium project site, where workers were installing equipment for the Games. “Along with the Olympic flame, China and Beijing would become the focus of world attention on August 8,” he said poetically.

“When the flame of peace, friendship and hope is lit in the ‘bird’s nest’, it will light up the whole world.” The bird’s nest is the colloquial term for the main stadium.

The flame is scheduled to leave Beijing on Tuesday for the Kazakh city of Almaty, the first stop in its global tour of 135 cities.