Han Xinping, the champion of the National Aeromodelling Championship and senior coach at the Aeromodelling Training School, was the first torchbearer of the Shihezi leg of the Olympic Torch Relay, which began at 9:30 AM on June 19.
Known as "pearl of the desert," Shihezi is the only desert city cultivated by the People's Liberation Army.
Among the 104 torchbearers participating in this leg of the Torch Relay are Su Li, a worker from the Women`s Association of Shihezi and a May 1 Labour Award recipient, and Kuerban Aili, a model worker from the Xinjiang Autonomous Region.
Gao Lingling, a nurse at the Green Land Hospital of Shihezi who was awarded the title of "March 8 Red-banner Pace-setter," was the final torchbearer of the event.