Local residents wave the Chinese national flags during the Beijing Olympic torch relay in Xining, capital of Qinghai Province, June 24, 2008. [Xinhua]

The starting ceremony began at 8 a.m. around. The rain abated when all the people paid a one-minute tribute to the victims in the May 12 quake in southwest Sichuan province that claimed more than 69,000 lives.

The first torchbearer was Wu Tianyi, the first ethnic Tajik academician of China Academy of Engineering. Wu has spent nearly thirty years on treating patients with plateau diseases and contributed to "zero death" of plateau diseases during the construction of Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

He received the torch from Wang Jianjun, Party chief of Xining, and began to run at 8:13 a.m. amid loud cheers and hurrah. The rain almost stopped at the same time.

"I am so proud to be the first torchbearer. I will bring the Olympic Spirits to my work and contribute more to curing plateau disease," said he right before the start-up.

A total of 291 torchbearers ran a distance of 8.8 kilometers in the relay. The torchbearers include major ethnic groups living in the city like Han, Hui, Tibetan, Tu and Mongolian.