Special report: 2008 Olympic Games

    CHIFENG, North China, July 9 (Xinhua) -- The Olympic flame late Wednesday afternoon arrived in the northern Chinese tourist resort of Chifeng, the birthplace of Hongshan Culture, according to a local government official.

    The torch relay in Chifeng, the last leg of the torch tour in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, will be held on Thursday morning.

    Literally meaning "red peak," Chifeng was thus named because of a reddish brown peak in the city's northwest.

    Boasting 834,100 Mongolians of its 4.39 million population, Chifeng is the cradle of Hongshan, Qidan (Kitanye), Liao and Mongolian culture and boasts 6,800 cultural heritage sites.

    Visitors will enjoy an array of natural scenery, including grasslands, desert, glaciers, stone forests, and hot springs. Around 30 percent of the city is covered by forest.