The lighting ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games flame, which indicates the official start of the torch relay, will take place in Ancient Olympia Greece on March 24.
Traditionally the torch lighting ceremony is held in front of the Temple of Hera of Ancient Olympia. According to the Beijing 2008 website 605 Greek torchbearers will run 1,528 km in Greece for seven days. The relay will pass through 16 regions and 43 cities, as well as four communities. There will be 29 celebration events held along the route.
At 3:00 p.m. on March 30 the flame arrives at Panathenian Stadium in central Athens where the first modern Olympic Games took place in 1896.
Meanwhile the torch relay route in Pyongyang North Korea has been settled, Liu Xiamong, Chinese ambassador to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), told a press conference. He said cooperation between the Olympic Committee of the DPRK and Beijing 2008 would secure the torch relay on April 28 smoothly and successfully. The torch will travel about 20 km through Pyongyang.
It’s the first time the Olympic flame will come to the DPRK and the first time both sides of the Korean Peninsular will take part in the torch relay at the same time. Liu said, “the event will be of special and important meaning”. Pyongyang is the 18th stop for the torch relay.
The Associated Press reports Tibetan immigrants protesting Chinese control of their homeland vowed Monday to make San Francisco, the only U.S. city to host the torch relay, the focal point of American demonstrations against the Games.
Demonstrators unfurled a Tibetan flag over a flight of white stone steps leading into San Francisco City hall and held a portrait of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, above the crowd next to banners saying “Olympics in China, Torture in Tibet”, and “Truth is our only weapon”.
Organizers said Tibetan activists plan to line the parade route to remind Americans of China’s human rights abuses in their home country.
