Relay runners ready to join in quake rescue
[ 2008-05-16 13:40 ]
今天早上8时15分，北京奥运会圣火开始在“英雄之城”中国人民解放军的诞生地江西省南昌市进行传递。江西省南昌站传递的起跑仪式在八一广场举行。全场群众为在四川地震中遇难的民众默哀一分钟，同时在庆典中，专门安排南昌市为四川灾区捐款活动。
Many of the 208 torchbearers in this East China city are getting ready to join the rescue effort in Sichuan province.
Local residents hold up a banner that reads, "Spread the Olympic Spirit and Support Earthquake-relief Efforts" while watching the Beijing Olympic torch relay in Jinggangshan, East China's Jiangxi Province, May 15, 2008. [Xinhua] |
The opening ceremony of Thursday's relay was low key with the poignant recitation of a poem written by the late Chairman Mao Zedong in Jinggangshan in 1928, when the revolution reached its critical point.
In the poem, Chairman Mao calls on the revolutionary forces to "join together to make it happen".
The poem was cited both as a tribute to the city's history as the cradle of the Chinese revolution and as a call for public support and involvement in the rescue efforts in the disaster-hit areas of Sichuan.
The torch relay started with Zhou Hechun, an athletics coach, at 8:15 am from the historical site of Huangyangjie, a 1,343-m hill and home to a tablet inscribed with one of Chairman Mao's most famous quotes: "A single spark can start a prairie fire."
Liu Hao, a model firefighter, ran the final leg through a square in the city's new downtown area.
