Tightrope walker opens Kashgar leg

KASHGAR, Xinjiang: The Olympic torch relay came to this oasis city on the western edge of the Taklimakan Desert yesterday morning, the second leg of its tour through the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The event began at 9:30 am at a square to the east of the Etigar Mosque, a grand structure in the heart of the city center. Built in 1442, and extended many times, it today occupies an area of 16,800 sq m and is the largest mosque in Xinjiang. As part of the country's cultural heritage it is also protected at the state level.

The two-hour relay covered almost 7.5 km of Kashgar's downtown districts and involved 208 torchbearers representing the Uygur, Han, Hazak, Hui, Kirgiz, Mongolian, Bai and Tu peoples.