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Olympic flame to light up Beijing
The Athens 2004 Torch Relay, the first truly global Olympic torch relay, will arrive in Beijing on June 8th. As the host of the 2008 Games, Beijing is eagerly anticipating the arrival of the torch and is making all provisions possible to ensure the touch relay is both successful and memorable. This will be the first time the Olympic flame has visited China. The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the 29th Olympiad, or BOCOG, says the capital's relay route has been laid out and details will be announced later this month. The route is designed to impress the world with Beijing's unique mix of urban vibrancy and historical depth. The cultural officer of the BOCOG, Zhang Ming, says the Olympic flame will pass Chang'an Avenue and the Central Business District, which are symbolic areas in Beijing's drive towards modernity. Historical sites and traditional buildings are also along the route, including the Forbidden City and hutongs where many Beijing natives live. There will be 131 Chinese runners selected to as torch-bearers and runners. The BOCOG says the selection process has already started in colleges and universities and the response has been fairly positive. A student involved in the preliminary running race says he thinks the Olympic flame's passage though Beijing is a significant event. It gives the ancient city and its fellow citizens a chance to charm the world. He looks forward to being part of it. The Athens 2004 Olympic flame started its world journey on the 25th of March. Under the theme "Pass the flame, Unite the world", the torch will travel to 33 cities across the five continents, for around 65 days. Beijing is the torch's fifth stop and it will stay in Beijing for two days. And for the first time in Olympic history, the Olympic flame will visit Africa and South America.
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