DATONG, Shanxi: Pan Wen has lived, studied and worked in the same colliery compound since he was born in 1982, here in China's "coal capital".

The schools he went to were affiliated to the state-owned colliery where his parents work, and since his graduation four years ago, he has also been working as a miner, digging coal for eight hours a day.

But yesterday, Pan said he was "extremely lucky", because the Olympic torch relay in Datong began at the Jinhuagong Colliery compound where he lives and works.

He attended the launch ceremony and had his picture taken in his work clothes.

"The colliery is a very good place. I love living here and all my schoolmates envy me."

Pan does not get a basic salary, but is paid by the amount of coal he digs. In a good month, he makes about 4,000 yuan ($580), he said.

Nian Jianqing, a 50-year-old coal miner who joined the colliery in 1976, said it is much better to work for a state-owned colliery. His two sons work at small, private collieries.

"I worry about them a lot. Their working conditions are dangerous, but they have to earn money," he said.

"I have been going to the square every day over the past week to see them getting ready for the relay. It is the first time I've been part of something this important, I like the Olympics."

Pan said life at the colliery compound is simple.

He likes to play basketball in his spare time, but cannot play football or volleyball because there are no pitches or courts.

There is one Internet cafe and young people often meet there, he said.

The standard 208 torchbearers took part in yesterday's four-km relay, which ended in front of a giant Buddha statue at the Yungang Grottoes, about 16 km west of Datong.

Also known as the Cloud Ridge Grottoes, the collection of shallow caves features more than 50,000 carved images and statues of Buddha and bodhisattvas, many of them dating back 1,000 years.

In 2001, the grottoes were added to the list of World Cultural Heritage sites.

Datong was the final stop for the three-day torch relay in Shanxi, which started in the industrial city of Yuncheng and traveled through historic Pingyao and Taiyuan.

On Saturday, the Olympic flame will arrive in Jiuquan, Gansu province.