2008 Summer Olympics Torch Relay

2008 Olympic Torch

The design of the Olympic Torch is based on traditional scrolls and uses a traditional Chinese design known as the "Propitious Clouds" (祥云). The torch is designed to remain lit in 65 kilometer per hour winds, and in rain of up to 50 millimeters per hour.

The relay, with the theme Journey of Harmony, is expected to last 130 days and carry the torch 137,000 km (85,000 mi)—the longest distance of any Olympic torch relay since the tradition began at the 1936 Berlin Games. So far, the torch relay has been called a "public relations disaster" by The Times for China, with protests of China's human rights record, particularly in Tibet.

The relay began March 24, 2008, in Olympia, Greece. From there, it traveled across Greece to Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, and then to Beijing, arriving on March 31. From Beijing, the torch followed a route passing through every continent except Antarctica. The torch visited cities on the Silk Road, symbolizing ancient links between China and the rest of the world. A total of 21,880 torchbearers have been selected from around the world by various organizations and entities.

The international portion of the relay has been a problematic, month-long world tour that has seen wide-scale protests to China's human rights abuses and recent crackdown in Tibet, while there were also tremedous supports from oversea Chinese. After trouble in London saw several attempts to put out the flame, the following day, the flame was extinguished in Paris . The American leg in San Francisco on 9 April was altered without prior warning to avoid such scenes, although there were still demonstrations along the original route, but the remaining legs have not been as disastrous. The relay was further delayed and simplified after the devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake affecting western China.

The flame was carried to the top of Mount Everest on a 108 km (67 mi) long "highway" scaling the Tibetan side of the mountain especially built for the relay. The $19.7 million blacktop project spanned from Tingri County of Xigazê Prefecture to the Everest Base Camp. In March 2008, China banned mountaineers from climbing its side of Mount Everest and later persuaded the Nepalese government to close their side as well, officially citing environmental concerns. It also reflected concerns by the communist government that Tibet activists may try to disrupt its plans to carry the Olympic torch up the world's tallest peak.

The original route included a stop in Taipei before heading for Hong Kong. Taiwan's government, however, later rejected this proposal, claiming that such arrangement would make the Taiwan relay be seen as part of China's domestic route, rather than the international route. The IOC eliminated Taipei from the relay; both China and Taiwan have blamed each other for injecting politics into the event.

FYI - 2008 Beijing Olympic Sports