BEIJING -- The Olympic torch started its final-hours relay on Friday morning at Zhoukoudian, an UNESCO heritage site in southwestern Beijing suburb which has yielded many archaeological discoveries.
Amid loud music and cheers, the first torchbearer Feng Gong, one of the best Chinese comedian, carried the torch and start running at around 7:08 a.m.
Torchbearer Feng Gong holds up the Olympic torch at the start of the last-day of Beijing Olympic Games torch relay in Zhoukoudian of in Beijing August 8, 2008. [Xinhua] |
It was the final day of a three-day relay in Beijing, about 12 hours before the Beijing Games opens. A total of 140 torchbearers would run in turn on a 7.9-km route.
The relay will end at about 12:15 p.m. at the No.101 Middle School of Beijing, also home to the Olympic Youth Camp.
Zhoukoudian was most famous as the site where the archaeological treasure Peking Man, one of the first specimens of Homo erectus, was discovered.
On the third of its three-day relay in Beijing, the torch is traveling through Fangshan, Mentougou, Daxing, Beijing Economic Technological Development Area (BDA) and Haidian districts, starting from the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian, and ending at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Youth Camp.
Below are some introductions of the scenic spots along the route:
Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian: Located 48 km from downtown Beijing, the site was inhabited by early hominids over 500,000 years ago. The site, discovered in 1921, yielded nearly 200 pieces of Peking Man fossil (representing around 40 individuals), over 10,000 stone artifacts, several layers of ash as evidence of fire use, and more than 100 specimen of fossil animal.
Beijing Economic Technological Development Area (BDA): Founded in 1991, it is the only state-level development zone in Beijing aiming at attracting investment from high-tech companies, multinational firms and other industrial giants. Companies from the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands and other countries or regions in the world have invested in BDA.
Beijing 2008 Olympic Youth Camp: It is one of the 15 non-competitive venues of Beijing Olympic Games. The campers will carry out various exchange activities focusing on "Olympic experience", "cultural exchange" and "understanding China". The camp site is located in Beijing 101 Middle School, adjacent east to Tsinghua University and south to Peking University.
Distance of third-day relay: 7.9 km Time: 1 hour and 34 minutes Number of torchbearers: 140