Routes and time of second-day torch relay       

 

Torchbearer Yuan Wei runs with the torch during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games torch relay in Beijing, China, Aug. 7, 2008. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli)  Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Amid cheers and applause, the Olympic flame began the second day of its relay here with a historic run on the Great Wall on Thursday.

    Before the relay, a brief ceremony was held at the foot of the Badaling section of the Great Wall, which is one of greater Beijing's landmarks, in Yanqing County more than 70 km north of downtown Beijing.

    Crowds began gathering early in the morning, waving red Chinese flags and the white flags of the Beijing Olympics.

    At 7:10 a.m., the first torch bearer, Li Zhonghua, a famous Chinese test pilot, ran on to the Great Wall.

    "If you fail to reach the Great Wall, you are not a man," Li said after his stretch of about 50 meters, quoting a saying by Mao Zedong.

    "I am really honored and excited. I have been here many times, and I have piloted aircraft over the Great Wall. But being a torch bearer of the Beijing Olympics is the most exciting thing in my life," Li said.

    He was followed by 17 other torch bearers climbing up a 900-m section of the Wall. After passing through two beacon towers, 18th runner Wang Ning climbed on to the Beisi Tower and displayed the torch to the crowd, marking the end of the 15-minute relay on the Great Wall.

    Xie Mian, one of the thousands of spectators, said he had arrived very early and was thrilled to see the torch on the Great Wall.

    "The Olympic flame represents peace while the Great Wall, which was built for military use in ancient China, has become a symbol of peace and is visited by many Chinese and foreigners every year," he said.

    "It is the first time for the sacred Olympic flame to come to the Great Wall. For the first time, the two symbols of oriental and Western cultures meet here. It is a great honor to see such a grand scene," Xie said.

    The Badaling section is the best-preserved and most visited part of the Great Wall. It was built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) with a military outpost reflecting its strategic importance.

    The Great Wall was built, rebuilt and maintained between the 6th century BC and the 16th century AD. The most famous stretch was built from 220 to 200 BC by Emperor Qin Shihuang. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

Torchbearer Li Zhonghua runs with the torch during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games torch relay in Beijing, China, Aug. 6, 2008. (Xinhua/An Zhiping) Photo Gallery>>>

    TO THE TEMPLE OF THE EARTH

    After the historic run on the Great Wall, the Olympic torch left for Changping District, south of Yanqing, to continue its journey.

    The second day of the relay would see a total of 268 torch bearers, including 29 from overseas, carrying the Olympic torch and running on a 14.58-km route in three hours and four minutes.

    The route comprised 18 sections in eight of Beijing's 18 districts and counties, including Yanqing, Changping, Huairou, Shunyi and Dongcheng.

    The fourth section, about 2,200 m covered by 34 runners, was in the massive China (Huairou) Movie and TV Industry Zone.

    Ren Xiaoyun, the 66th torchbearer who ran in this section, said: "My stretch is over, but the passion has just begun. As a street cleaner, it is a great honor for me. It inspires me to work harder to serve the Beijing Olympics and contribute to the successful hosting of the Games."

    Along the road in every section, thousands of people chanted slogans such as "Go China, Go Olympics" and "Go Beijing, Go Olympics" and waved flags to cheer on the torch bearers.

    They were also celebrating a 2-1 win on Wednesday night by China over Sweden in their opening match of the Olympic women's soccer tournament.

    Thursday's leg ended at the Temple of Earth (Di Tan) at about 6:12 p.m. as the final torch bearer Song Zuying, a famous ballad singer, ran onto the altar and lit the cauldron.

    "I have been looking forward to this moment, and I will remember it for the rest of my life," Song said after lighting the cauldron.

    Built in 1530 during the Ming Dynasty, Di Tan was where emperors made sacrifices to the gods for good harvests, auspicious weather and stability.

    Di Tan complements the Temple of Heaven (Tian Tan), the final stop of the 16.4-km route on the first day of the relay in the south of Beijing.

    The planning of the routes embodied Chinese philosophy, in which Tian is mentioned in relationship to its complementary aspect of Di. These two aspects are thought to maintain the two poles of the Three Realms of reality, with the middle realm occupied by humanity.

    A total of 841 torch bearers are to take part in the 38.9-km route over three days in Beijing.

    On the first day, the torch started from the landmark Forbidden City and passed other landmarks, including Tian'anmen Square, the egg-shaped National Center for the Performing Arts and Qianmen (the Southern Gate).

    A total of 433 bearers, including basketball star Yao Ming and celebrated film director and chief director of the Games opening and closing ceremonies Zhang Yimou, carried the torch on the route.

    GUESSING GAME: WHO WILL LIGHT CAULDRON AT OPENING?

    The final day of the Beijing relay on Friday will see 140 runners carrying the torch in turn on a 7.9-km route.

    It will start at around 7:10 a.m. on Friday at Zhoukoudian, a southwestern Beijing suburb where the archaeological treasure Peking Man was discovered. It will end at about 12:15 p.m. at the No.101 Middle School of Beijing, also home to the Olympic Youth Camp.

    After being lit at the birthplace of the Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece on March 24, the torch traveled to Beijing on March 31 for a ceremonial start of its global trip.

    Under the theme "Journey of Harmony," the relay took the torch 137,000 km through six continents over 129 days, passing through 21 cities, including Hong Kong and Macao, before touring the mainland on May 4.

    On Friday night, the Olympic flame will be used to light the cauldron at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games.

    With this climactic event just about 24 hours away, many Chinese and members of the mass media are trying to guess who will be the last torch bearer to light the main Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony, seen as a top honor for athletes.

    Like previous Olympic Games, the organizers of the Beijing Games remain tight-lipped about the details of this event.

    According to Sun Xuecai, vice chairman of the organizing committee of the torch relay in Beijing, there will be six bearers who will carry the torch and run in turn before the final carrier lights the cauldron.

    However, he refused to disclose whether those six would be among the 140 to run in Friday's relay. "It is not up to me to decide who the six carriers will be," he said.

    According to media reports, there are some hot candidates as the final torch bearer, but Yao Ming and Olympic gold-medal hurdler Liu Xiang are not among them.

    Houston Rockets' center Yao was the ninth torch bearer in the first day relay in Beijing, while Liu was the first bearer when the Olympic flame kicked off its global torch relay in Beijing on March 31.

    It has been a tradition over the Games' history that each bearer only holds the torch once during the relay.

    After excluding current sport stars, Chinese media turned their focus to former prominent Olympic champions. The most likely candidate, they guessed, was Li Ning, a famous gymnast and entrepreneur.

    Li is most famous for winning six medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics -- including three gold, two silver and one bronze.

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