Domestic leg
The torch passing through Shenzhen. China: The torch returned to China for the first time since April. The torch arrived in Sanya, Hainan on May 4 with celebrations attended by International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials and Chinese big names like Jackie Chan. The entire relay through Mainland China was largely a success with many people welcoming the arrival of the torch along the way.
Some notable incidents are:
During the Fujian run, the relay carried a cross-strait theme since the province is geographically across from Taiwan. The Beijing Organizing Committee invited people from Taiwan to witness the torch relay, but the organisers offered no further details.
On May 8, a simultaneous run of the torch was done as part of the summit on Mt. Everest.
A 28-year old man in Jiangsu known as "Tang" was arrested for spreading rumors online he would go to Nanjing (the May 27 leg) to grab the torch.
The last leg of the Fujian run was gloomily shadowed by the May 12 Sichuan earthquake. As a result, the relay began on May 14 with a moment of silence as the torch made its way through the province of Jiangxi. From May 19 through 21, the relay was suspended as the State Council designated these three days as national days of mourning for the victims in the earthquake. The relay through the province of Sichuan was postponed.
On May 23, the relay began in Shanghai. Tens of thousands gathered at the famous People’s Square and the Bund along the Huangpu River to welcome the torch. It passed through Pudong, the crown-jewel of Shanghai’s districts and PRC’s financial capital. The two-day Shanghai leg concluded in Anting, an automobile hub in Shanghai’s suburbs, and home to the city’s Formula One Shanghai International Circuit. There was no interruptions.
On June 21, the relay began in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The originally three-day run was cut short to only one day, likely due to the controversy surrounding the relay because of China's harsh response to the Lhasa riot and the other protests that swept the Tibetan plateau between March and May, and also the delay to the relay due to the devastating Sichuan earthquake. Xinhua, China's official news agency, claimed that organizations such as the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) and the Tibetan Women's Association (TWA) threatened to "sabotage" the relay, but there is no evidence to support this and it contradicts statements from the organizations themselves. Meanwhile, the other Olympic flame rejoined the Olympic flame used in the main torch relay route in Tibet after ascending Mount Everest. Zhang Qingli, the Communist Party Secretary in Tibet, drew criticism from the IOC who wrote to BOCOG, saying that they "regret the political statements" made by Zhang during the relay, after he claimed that they could "totally smash the splittist schemes of the Dalai clique".
On July 7, the torch was lit in Jiayuguan (the Western end of the Great Wall of China).
On August 3, the torch relay started in Sichuan after a devastated earthquake that killed almost 70,000 people in May. Sichuan was the last stop before returning to Beijing for the opening ceremony.
On August 8, the torch reached Beijing for the opening ceremony. After a spectacular art show and the parade of nations, the flame entered the stadium. The Olympic torch was relayed by 7 torchbearers before it was passed on to former Olympic gymnast Li Ning. Li, who was suspended by wires, then appeared to run horizontally along the top of the stadium and lit the Olympic cauldron. After it was lit, a spectacular firework show followed, signaling the official beginning of the 29th Olympiad
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