If you are a foreigner who has lived on the Chinese mainland for
at least a year, you could be holding the Olympic torch aloft next
year.
A nationwide hunt for eight foreign Olympic torchbearers is
being launched today by Lenovo, the worldwide partner of the
Olympic torch relay, along with China Daily, the country's
only national English daily newspaper.
In addition to meeting the Olympic torchbearers' selection
criteria, participants will have to submit a photo, along with a
500-word essay about their lives in China and why they think they
should be selected as torchbearers, by the end of this month.
The organizers encourage expatriates from all walks of life to
take part in the event, especially those who love Chinese culture
and history and are committed to promoting friendship and exchanges
between China and the rest of the world.
Contestants' stories will be featured on the newspaper's website
and the public invited to vote for their favorite participants
online. By the end of November, the judges' panel will declare the
winners based on the number of votes received and their evaluation
of the participants' personal experiences.
China Daily will cover the whole selection process and
print some of the interesting stories in its weekly publication,
The Olympian.
The organizers of the Beijing Olympic Games began recruiting
21,880 torchbearers from around the world on June 23 through
various organizations and entities. There are two stages in the
worldwide selection process.
The first one is through recommendations made by various
organizations and institutions. The second is an open process, in
which public nominations are accepted. Five percent of the
torchbearers are expected to be non-Chinese people living on the
Chinese?mainland.
(China Daily September 7, 2007)