The Olympic flame arrived at Xiangtan and county-level city Shaoshan, birthplace of Chairman Mao Zedong, taking the last leg of torch relay in Hunan province on Thursday.
Yang Xia, the first torchbearer and Chinese Olympic weightlifting Champion, begins to run with the flame after the launching ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay at Dongfanghong Square in Xiangtan, known as the hometown of Mao Zedong, central China's Hunan Province, June 5, 2008.
Following a one-minute silence tribute to those killed in May 12 Sichuan earthquake, the relay started from the East Red Square at 8:10 a.m. local time, going through Lotus Road, Shuangyong Road, Three Bridge Road, Hutan Square, Fuzhou Road, North City Ring, Hunan Science and Technology University, covering 15.8 kilometers to reach the Xiangtan University, the end of the first-segment relay.
With 168 bearers in Shaoshan passing the torch, the relay moved to Shaoshan, 50km away from Xiangtan, to have the remaining 40 torchbearers carrying the torch over a distance of 2.8 kilometers.
Torchbearer Mao Yushi (L3) passes the flame to the next torchbearer Xie Zhenhua in front of the Former Residence of Chairman Mao Zedong during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay in Shaoshan, known as the hometown of Mao Zedong, central China's Hunan Province, June 5, 2008.
The second leg relay passed through Red Sun Square, Hero Road, Station Road, Mao Zedong's Home to wrap up the relay in Mao Zedong Bronze Statue Square.
A donation ceremony was held to raise money for the post-quake reconstruction in Sichuan.
The first torchbearer was Sydney Olympic wightlifting champion Yang Xia.
Torchbearer Mao Anping(R), son of Chairman Mao's cousin Mao Zelian, passes the flame to the next torchbearer Huang Zhigang during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay in Shaoshan, known as the hometown of Mao Zedong, central China's Hunan Province, June 5, 2008.
"It's a great honor for me to carry the first torch here in the hometown of the great Chinese leader," said Yang.
The last one was a firefighter named Jiang Aibing, who was in a rescue squad sent to the quake-hit region.
