Qu at a news conference in Canberra, Australia, with Australian swimming legend Ian Thorpe who won five Olympic gold medals. Photos courtesy of Qu Yingpu

What does it take to be an Olympic spokesman? Passion and perseverance, will and wit and, of course, it takes a lot more still, as Qu Yingpu, spokesman for the Beijing Olympic Games, has learned. Nearly two weeks after he traveled five continents on the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay (BOTR), Qu still finds himself emotionally involved.

Between April 1 and May 3, Qu witnessed the lighting of the Olympic torch in 21 cities, including Hong Kong and Macao, in what he describes as "a global odyssey". "Many questions were inevitably raised. And I need time to think them through," he said.

The 43-year-old spokesman's current state of mind could be likened to that of a man who has just stepped from a very dizzying ride that has taken him to some of the world's most elegant and exotic locales. A vague sense of unreality swirled around the month-long episode.

"When I first learned that I was appointed the spokesman for the Beijing Olympic Games, I was in New York. The news came to me in the wee hours," Qu recalled. "My immediate thought was: 'what a life experience that will be!' But I never knew until I went through it."

Indeed, the journey was never short of dramas that were well-chronicled around the globe. But it was some of the most trivial things that have remained with the spokesman for the longest time.

Upon arrival in Muscat, Oman, Qu didn't expect to see so many flowers. How much effort it would require to just keep them alive in that weather condition, he exclaimed! "But there they were, blooming under the scorching desert sun," Qu said. "That was one of those tiny things that none of us will ever forget."

And if the entire delegation had been withering in their long sleeves and pants as they maintained protocol and decorum in respect to Arab custom, none of them had the slightest complaint.

There are many vignettes that showed feelings of warmth and friendship. In Pyongyang, one of the relay's last legs, as the Olympic procession moved slowly past the crowd standing in orderly lines, Qu and his fellow delegation members waved DPRK's national flag. "The moment they saw the flags, their smiling faces were radiating even more joy," he recalled.

Qu Yingpu is giving interview to media on board the chartered plane of the BOTR delegation. Behind him in the background are the safety lanterns containing the Olympic flame.

That instantaneous elevation of spirits, too evanescent to be captured on video yet too extraordinary to have been missed by any perceptive eye, was exactly what the Olympic flame sought to bring through its visits. "The point of the flame's global trip is precisely that - to light up and unite corners of the heart," Qu said.

The Olympic odyssey also experienced brief moments of disruption, with the most notable in London and Paris. For Qu, these were the most difficult times, not least because he had such warm memories and great fondness for both cities from the past. In his column for China Daily, which he began writing soon after embarking on the global tour, the spokesman reminisced about seeing "every corner and fold" of Paris, and regretted not being able to do so in the company of his wife.

A different Paris he had encountered on his last visit, the man has nonetheless kept faith in the mission he first accepted as the BOTR spokesman.

"There's a high price to pay for any lofty goal, and so is ours of spreading harmony and unity," he said. "Dr Martin Luther King Jr. even had to sacrifice his own life in the quest for racial equality."

"Besides, I was and am highly aware of the fact that the turbulence in these legs couldn't speak for cities themselves. Neither the violent protesters from out-of-town nor the overseas Chinese could come to truly represent the cities," he added. "The local people could. And they welcomed us."

That said, the spokesman had indeed been empowered by warm-hearted support from Chinese expatriates, who came by the hundreds and thousands from the surrounding regions to support each of the relays. Many came by plane or on overnight trains.

"Their support was so crucial to us, physically and emotionally. They made us feel that we were not fighting a lonely battle against the few who had attempted to hijack the games for their own political purposes," the spokesman said.

That support, of course, came not only from the Chinese expatriate population. "Without exception, we met fantastic local people in each leg of the relay who ran alongside us, sometimes for the entire length of the route," Qu said.

In Indonesia, two torch bearers answered with a categorical "No!" when some Tibet independence agitators tried to buy them off. "They told me that there's no way they would sell the greatest honor in life for any price," he said.

The spokesman felt the greatest frustration when people around the world were fed with images of violent protests, which were at best a small part of the picture. In his column, Qu, trained as a journalist by American instructors, questioned why some Western media "don't even follow their most basic rules."

"Tendentious reporting does not naturally translate into objective reporting," he said. "In this case, by showing only the negative things, the western media missed ninety percent of the story, and thus couldn't be further from truth."

There were times when the spokesman felt victimized by media misinterpretation. During a press briefing prior to the torch relay in Canberra, Australia, Qu talked about the role of the flame attendants, which had been an issue of controversy with the Australian authority.

"The Australian authority insisted that the flame attendants have no law enforcement right. We agreed in principle," he said. "But at the same time it must be realized that their role is not meant to be purely ceremonial - they have a responsibility to protect the torch and the torch bearers."

During the briefing Qu first quoted from the Technical Manual for the Olympic Torch Relay, which explains the flame attendants' official rights and responsibilities. Then in an effort to avert a potential dispute, the spokesman said he trusted the Australian police and that as a result of their commitment "our boys will mainly be turning on and off the torches".

"What I thought was a diplomatic way to express it came across very differently."

An Australian TV station attributed the words from the Technical Manual to Qu, while a local newspaper described the spokesman as "heaping humiliation on Australian officials". On the other hand, a Chinese newspaper wrote that Qu "has agreed with what the Australian authority says".

"I appeared in media either as a very tough person or as someone who had relinquished the right of our flame attendants," he said. "Misinterpretation could occur on both sides."

Knowing that it's impossible to "move the mountain" in a short period of time, Qu, who had learned the "Art of Communication" while studying at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 2005, resorted to the most effective means: the smile.

"On television, you probably won't be given more than twenty seconds. So you always remember to focus on the key messages, and always keep a calm, smiling face," he said.

Qu with his wife En Ronghui and son Qu Enshan at Hong Kong's Ocean Park

So he smiled through the most difficult time of the relay, and smiled while battling fatigue.

Drifting into sleep in one part of the world and waking up in another, Qu, like many of his fellow delegation members, acquired the habit of going to the wrong hotel room and trying in vain to open the door. "You thought you were staying at a certain place, which you did one day before."

There was also a time when the spokesman looked into the mirror after two sleep-deprived nights and felt that the image gazing back at him looked ten years older.

From the time the journey began in late March, Qu had been receiving daily phone calls and text-messages from his family. "They were always asking about the torch instead of me," he said.

This was especially true after the London leg. "My wife, who has never been interested in politics, would text-message me about how to 'outwit' the protesters," Qu said. "And every time I spoke to my 12-year-old son, his first question would be: how did it go? He would be elated if it went well, and really sad if it didn't."

The boy had earned the top-honor in an Olympics knowledge competition held among primary and secondary school students in Beijing.

Before he left China, Qu told a friend that he might write a book on the torch relay's global tour. The friend said, "no one would be interested unless your plane is hijacked for 30 days."

A few days into the journey, Qu realized that he must keep a journal. "So many things were happening and memory is not always reliable. So I started writing bits and pieces and made up for the first few days," he said.

Since the international portion of the torch relay ended, Qu, who is China Daily's deputy editor-in-chief, has returned to his daily routine as the flame continues its travel on the mainland.

While it may take a haircut and a few rounds of badminton to get the man back in shape, Qu believes that it will take much longer before "all the dust has settled" and he is able to look at what happened with "a calm, rational heart".

"You can't stop being emotive after all the ups and downs," he said. "But if I'm ever going to write a book, it won't just be from my own point of view."

"Lots of questions remain unanswered - such as what potential implications the torch relay will have for China as well as the rest of the world, and how to penetrate the communication barrier as different parts of the world are drawn ever closer to each other," said the spokesman who has been with China Daily for 22 years.

"Over the past two decades, I have been occupied in the work of 'bridging' - between China and different parts of the world. In that sense, I consider the journey part of what I have always been doing," he said.

"Rome was not built in a day - neither will our message of peace to get through to everyone around the world. But the BOTR has offered a historic platform and positive opportunity in that endeavor," he said.

(HK Edition 05/15/2008 page4)