I have fond memories of my first visit to San Francisco in the late 1980s. Then 23, I was intrigued by the city and its people, as well as the delicious Chinese food, Muir Woods, Fishermen's Wharf and so many other local attractions.

I had since been to the city four times, the latest being three years ago with my son. We visited City Hall, where a wedding was being held, and accidentally ran into mayor Newsom. My son asked the mayor for an autograph and, as he never keeps an adequate notebook for signatures and is accustomed to grabbing whatever comes in handy, handed the mayor his San Francisco map. The mayor was all smiles when signing for my little one. And mayor Newsom was very happy when I met him again yesterday and told him about it; we even took a photo together as proof of his goodwill to my son.

Those were indeed delightful days. But this time, it felt like a different San Francisco in my new shoes.

No further elaboration is needed of the details, since there already are many out there. And I no longer wish to emphasize the difficulties of our delegation, for the torch relay is not about us.

Everyone who is part of the advance teams sent to each relay city has a touching story to tell, as do those who are part of the flame's entourage, including people from the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), sponsors, reporters and the escort runners, who have been referred to by some as "thugs".

But all that is irrelevant compared to our grand mission. For the past few months we have each devoted our every spare minute, cherishing with our hearts and souls this once-in-a-lifetime experience, and hoping everything goes smoothly.

Lang Ping, coach of the US women's volleyball team, is accompanied by retired police officer James Dolan on the San Francisco leg of the torch relay yesterday. Xinhua

All this, and for what? It was Tuesday evening when a woman IOC member said here in San Francisco that the Olympic torch relay originated as a safe passage for athletes. That understanding is essential in recognizing what the torch relay is about. Any Olympic torch relay is and should be about torchbearers. This one too is about them, about sports, and not about China, which is but honored as a temporary guardian to spread the Olympic messages of peace and unity to the world.

US women's volleyball head coach Lang Ping of all people would share my view. The sports legend was the backbone of the Chinese women's volleyball team's that won consecutive championships in the early 80s, when I was at college. Her stories are very personal to our generation and; indeed, to me. I watched her compete year after year, watched her retire, watched her come out of retirement for the Chinese team and watched her stepping out once again during its worst years, coaching it to a second wave of victories.

And now here she is coaching the American team for the upcoming Games and running as a torchbearer for San Francisco. What better explains an athlete's passion for sport and the Olympic values of unity and progress?

Both Lang and Barcelona swimming champ Lin Li, who I first covered as a junior reporter for the 1990 Asian Games, were present at Tuesday night's torchbearers' reception. When Ye Qiaobo, China's first winter Olympics medalist and our delegation's consultant heard the news, she insisted she went. I didn't know why, until the three Chinese women Olympians met and Ye told Lang she was a great fan of hers - to the extent she had written to the former Chinese volleyball captain three times in the 1980s, but received no reply.

An embarrassed Lang said at that time they received bags of letters every day and never had enough time to write back to each admirer - and the gals laughed it off.

The Olympic relay is about things like these and people like them. It's their stories, their devotion, their honor. It's their time to shine. Anything to the contrary is puzzling.

I was more than delighted to see that 100,000 overseas Chinese came to support the sacred flame's coming to town. Many of our young reporters were drawn to tears of excitement and heartfelt warmth, and I felt exactly the same way.

Qu Yingpu, deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily, is spokesman for the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay

(China Daily 04/11/2008 page3)