Olympic torchbearers’ donation highlights harmonious journey
LONGYAN, China, May 13 (Xinhua) — The Beijing Olympic flame concluded its tour in China’s southeastern Fujian Province on Tuesday, with donations for earthquake-hit southwest China highlighting the relay.
The 7.8 magnitude quake has claimed more than 10 thousand people in eight affected areas in southwest China since it hit Monday afternoon.Upon hearing the news about the deadly earthquake, the 208 torchbearers running for Longyan’s leg called for donations to the earthquake-hit area.
At the closing ceremony Tuesday evening, all 208 torchbearers, including athletes, local officials, workers, businessmen, teachers, and students, donated to the earthquake-hit areas.Li Xinyan, the fifth torchbearer in Longyan’s relay, is also an entrepreneur, running an engineering machinery enterprise in Fujian. He contributed 5 million yuan to help with those affected by the quake.
“As a torchbearer, I hope to show affection to the people in the earthquake-hit areas, and try to do something to help those affected by the disaster,” said Li.”The Olympic torch relay is not only to pass the spirit of the Olympics, but also to hand on love and harmony,” said Zhang Xiangxiang, the first torchbearer in the relay.
There were quite a few world champions on the torchbearer list in Fujian Province, including Zheng Meizhu and Hou Yuzhu, members of the Chinese women’s volleyball team who took five world champions in succession in the 1980s; Guo Yuehua, a world-famous table tennis player with eight successive world titles; and Shi Zhiyong and Ji Xinpeng, Olympic champions in weightlifting and badminton, respectively.
“When I held up the torch, I felt I shouldered the responsibility of passing on love and friendship to the world. The Olympic flame’s journey is a harmonious journey,” Zheng told reporters after finishing the first leg in Fuzhou’s relay. Fuzhou was the first stop in Fujian Province.The last leg of the Olympic torch relay in Fujian ended at 17:17 local time.
During the three-day relay in Fujian, the torch traveled across five sections of the province, including Fuzhou (the capital), Quanzhou, Xiamen, and Longyan amid cheers and jubilant cries from fans.Fujian is known as one of the most famous hometowns of overseas Chinese and a major ancestral home of Chinese Taipei compatriots of the Han ethnicity.
The torch relay heads to Jiangxi Province in eastern China next, finishing its run there on Thursday in Ruijin.