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| http://torchrelay.beijing2008.cn/en/image/torchdesign/index.shtml |
Yesterday the planned route of the Beijing Olympic Torch relay was revealed. It will traverse the longest distance (137,000 km or 85,000 mile over 130 days), cover the greatest area (all 5 continents) and include the largest number of people.
“The Olympic Flame will be lit in Olympia, Greece according to tradition on March 25, 2008. From From March 25 - 30, the Torch Relay will travel across Greece, ending at the Panathinaiko Stadium, the site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. After the handover ceremony in the stadium, the Olympic Flame will arrive in Beijing on March 31, 2008. In Beijing, a ceremony will be held for the arrival of the flame into China and Beijing 2008 Olympic torch relay will commence.” (source: beijing2008.cn)
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| http://torchrelay.beijing2008.cn/upload/torchrelaymap/map.pdf |
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If you want to have a date-by-date and city-by-city time table go to: http://torchrelay.beijing2008.cn/en/journey/
Two side notes:
1) Just after the route was revealed, the chairman of Taiwan's Olympic Committee said the island would not participate in the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay because the route announced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Beijing was an attempt to "downgrade" Taiwan's "sovereignty."
2) One of the highlights of this leg will be the attempt to bring the Olympic Flame to the highest peak in the world Mt. Qomolangma*. During the arrival ceremony for the flame into China on March 31, 2008, one of the lanterns with the Olympic Flame will be kept aside. The torchbearer team will then attempt to take the Flame to the highest peak on a day in May that presents the best climatic conditions for the ascent. And now China plans to built a highway on the side of Mount Everest to ease the Olympic torch’s journey to the peak. Construction of the road, budgeted at $19.7 million, would turn a 67-mile rough path from the foot of the mountain to a base camp at 17,060 feet "into a blacktop highway fenced by undulating guardrails," the official New China News Agency said.
