Beijing is planning to build a museum for this year's Olympic Torch Relay so that gifts, pictures and recollections of each leg can be put on public display. 

On hearing the news, I couldn't help but picture myself going there in 30-odd years with my grandchild, and telling him or her about our odyssey in spring 2008.

When that moment comes, I will recall our days in Muscat, Oman with perhaps the most joy and appreciation.

It was a perfect relay day on Monday, but even before the flame began its course, I was touched by the bravery, endurance and flair of the Omanis in constructing such a beautiful city. They overcame great difficulties to build an oasis in the desert, where rainfall is limited to a few showers a year.

During the relay, throngs of spectators stood in orderly lines, smiling and cheering as the flame passed by. About 1,000 people turned out for the opening ceremony and about 5,500 for the grand finale.

The magic of the Olympic flame also attracted many Chinese living in region. Some ran for 6 km with the flame after the opening ceremony, and a few, I heard, traveled from as far as 1,000 km away to catch a glimpse of the fire.

As far as we who came with the chartered plane are concerned, the entire delegation wore long sleeves and pants in respect for the local culture, although Oman welcomes tourists in whatever clothes they are accustomed to. All of us have had an especially positive impression of Oman.

To me, this is what an ideal Olympic Torch Relay should be like.

On a day when Chinese around the globe protested against Western perceptions of their home country, when the world was given a chance to reflect on and revisit some of its citizens' taken-for-granted assumptions about China, when the personal information of 'pro-Tibetan independence' protester who physically attacked wheelchair torchbearer Jin Jing in Paris was discovered by Chinese Internet users and put online, when understanding is so critical and means so much, we with the relay entourage experienced here in Muscat the best of two worlds thanks to efforts of two peoples.

This is the true spirit of the Olympics - the spirit of mutual understanding and respect - that underlies the flame's global relay. Without it, many would not have the opportunity to right the wrongs they were introduced to, and would lose the real ground for treating each other as equals.

For one, dominant misconceptions of Arabian countries could give one the wrong idea about Oman, and it takes a journey like this to realize how it really is. The Muscat leg had 12 women torchbearers who spoke openly and lived respectfully - how many of us would have known that without coming here?

Communication between people is always difficult. That's why it should always start from the basics, the small things people would so soon forget in their own environments but appreciate and cherish so much if others try it out in their shoes.

It lies in the most tiny details - for example, the five minutes of fireworks prior to the celebrations in Muscat, or the five Fuwa mascots, the laser rays that promoted the Beijing Games at the evening ceremony, and the grand finale's last program that hailed the Silk Road that once connected China and Oman.

None of us knew the words, but all of us understood the sentiment. It is trivial matters like these that warm our spirits, constantly reminding us what the Olympic flame, itself small but bright, is about.

The Muscat relay is the only run so far carried out in the afternoon and evening. Under the light of the moon, we all felt close to the Olympic flame, which was so warm, lovely, temperate but powerful.

It was an experience to be remembered and replicated.

The Olympic flame could not have worked its magic in Oman had people attempted to snatch it.

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