The flame moved on to Qufu, birthplace of China's ancient saint Confucius to stay overnight for the third leg relay in this 2,000-year-old city on Tuesday.

  Olympic torch relay in Qufu, birthplace of China's ancient saint Confucius (photo by Xinhua)

With 800 local children chanting the Analects, the relay on Tuesday, involving 100 torchbearers, began in front of the Hall of Great Accomplishment, the major structure of the Confucius Temple around 8 a.m..

Along the route, the flame, witnessing the encounter of the modern Olympic culture and China's traditional culture, visited some historic relics like the wall of the Kingdom of Lu and the tomb of Shao Hao, one of the five legendary emperors in ancient China.

The next stop after Qufu was Tai'an city, lying at the southern foot of Mount Tai, the Taoist-influenced mountain and one of the five holy mountains venerated in China, where many feudal emperors made pilgrimages to pray to God.

Olympic champion gymnast Xing Aowei was the first runner while Bi Wenjing, Atlanta Olympics silver medalist in the uneven bars lighted the cauldron at the local "Tian Di" Square to finish the leg after the torch was relayed for a little more than an hour in the city.

The flame climbed Mount Tai after this leg was over, a second time to ascend a holy mountain after it reached the peak of Mount Qomolangma in this May.

The torch relay came to an end at 10:45 a.m. Wednesday in Jinan, where a group of sports celebrities were among torchbearers, including diver Guo Jingjing, weightlifter Lin Weining and Xing Huina, women's 10,000 meters champion in Athens Olympic Games four years ago.

The Olympic torch relay, kicking off in Chinese mainland on May 4th, finished its tour in northeast China's Liaoning Province on July 19 before it arrived in Shandong and will continue its tour in China's central Henan Province from July 25th to 28th.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24)