Olympic torch runs through Fuzhou

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Source: CCTV.com | 05-12-2008 13:30

Jubilant crowds cheered on Sunday as the Olympic torch ran through Fuzhou, the over 2,000 year-old capital of Fujian province. The port city of Fuzhou is also known as the hometown of many overseas Chinese.

The torch was just the boost that people were looking for on a Sunday morning.

Crowds cheered as 208 runners undertook the 28 kilometer relay. Olympic volleyball champion Zheng Meizhu lit the torch of her former teammate Hou Yuzhu. And Zheng said she couldn't find the words to express her excitement. Their team triumphed at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.

The eldest torchbearer running in this leg of the relay was a 93-year-old.

And a Fuzhou resident conveyed the atmosphere along the route.

Fuzhou resident Huang Jingwang said, "Everyone is so excited, they are cheering and shouting, there hasn't been a feeling like this in a very long time. At my age, I can't remember seeing anything this exciting."

Crowds in China have been turning out in the hundreds of thousands - even millions - just to see the torch go by. And it will have travelled a total of 97,000 kilometers by the time it reaches the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing on August 8. This is by far the longest torch relay in the history of the Olympics.

Editor:Zhang Ning