World champion Go player Gu Li set off from Jinshan Square at 8:10 a.m. on Monday to run the first leg of the Torch Relay?in Chongqing ?which kicked off with a festivity of song, dance and artistic performances.

Gu is among 208 torchbearers who will carry the Olympic flame on a 17-kilometer course (11 km by torchbearer and 6 km by convoy), crossing the Jialing River and the Yangtze River, to spread the Olympic spirit. The relay route lies mainly in the northern parts of the city.

Vice-Mayor Wang Hongju, BOCOG Executive-Vice President Jiang Xiaoyu and other officials took part in the torch lighting ceremony.

(BOCOG June 16, 2008)