CHINA: OLYMPICS BEIJING 2008 - Olympic torch tours capital of earthquake-hit Sichuan province

Record ID: 607259

  • Title: CHINA: OLYMPICS BEIJING 2008 - Olympic torch tours capital of earthquake-hit Sichuan province
  • Date: 6th August 2008
  • Summary: OFFICIALS ON STAGE (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) LI CHUNCHENG, COMMUNIST PARTY SECRETARY OF CHENGDU, SAYING: "Today, we hold deeply the feeling of thanks and gratitude towards the people and soldiers of our country, as well as the unyielding aid from the international community. We also hold deeply the hopes and happiness for the successful hosting of the Olympics Games. And with the greatest respect for the Olympic spirit, we hold high this torch which also represents the spirit of unity of our earthquake rescue and relief efforts."
  • Embargoed: 21st August 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVADNEC2UENSQS5NOMT18V05OLL3
  • Story Text: Emotions run high as Olympic torch tours Chengdu, the capital of China's quake-hit Sichuan province.
    Crowds cheered wildly as the Olympic flame made its way through the capital of China's quake-hit province of Sichuan on Tuesday (August 5), its last stop before heading to Beijing to open the Games.
    The relay through Chengdu marks the end of the torch's journey across five continents and every corner of China on its way to Beijing, where it will parade through the city before lighting the cauldron at the Games' opening ceremony on Friday (August 8).
    In Sichuan, organizers have been careful to showcase patriotic unity as the torch tours the province less than three months since the 7.9-magnitude tremor devastated the region.
    Local officials were quick to use the torch relay, dubbed as a "Journey of Harmony", as a rallying cry to lift the spirits of Sichuan's quake victims.

    "Today, we hold deeply the feeling of thanks and gratitude towards the people and soldiers of our country, as well as the unyielding aid from the international community.
    We also hold deeply the hopes and happiness for the successful hosting of the Olympics Games. And with the greatest respect for the Olympic spirit, we hold high this torch which also represents the spirit of unity of our earthquake rescue and relief efforts," said Li Chuncheng (pron: lee-choon-cheng), the Communist Party Secretary of Chengdu.
    In Chengdu, as in many of the torch's stops, organisers carefully controlled those allowed to see the relay's start and finish, limiting places to select media, officials and other guests.
    Although two quake-hit cities were taken off the original torch route, the flame was put on exhibition in a stadium in Mianyang on Monday (August 4), where children from schools that collapsed in the quake cheered it on and soldiers re-enacted rescue scenes.
    The three-hour torch relay through Chengdu was greeted by residents who welcomed the distraction of the Olympics after months of coping with the aftermath of the May 12 earthquake that killed some 70,000 and devastated their southwestern province.
    The torch was originally scheduled to tour the province in June, but was rescheduled by the government after the earthquake.
    And Chengdu residents said they appreciated the re-timing of the torch relay and were honoured to be the relay's last stop before it reaches its climatic end in Beijing.

    "Actually the torch relay was scheduled to run in Chengdu in June this year, but it is happening now because Sichuan suffered from this devastating earthquake. We feel gratitude towards the people of our country as well as the people of the international community for their care and concern, as well as their help in rebuilding our homeland," said 38-year-old Chen Xin (pron: chen-hsin).

    "We feel that this shows that the party and our country, as well as the Chinese people, are showing a special care and concern for the people of Sichuan province," said 42-year-old Xu Min (pron: she-min).

    "It makes me extremely happy to be here. This is the pride of the Chinese people," said Xu Min, 42, among the few whose work units were selected to be there.
    The torch relay had endured a tumultuous time during its international leg as what was meant as a tour to showcase China's unity and pride ahead of the Olympics turned into a lightning rod for protests, mostly over China's crackdown on unrest in Tibet.
    The demonstrations around the world provoked retaliatory rallies by patriotic Chinese at home and abroad and sparked a display of nationalism that saw foreign retailers and media outlets under fire on China's blogs and in the streets.
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