JINAN, East China, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The Olympic torch relay completed its tour in Jinan, the last leg in east China's Shandong Province, on Wednesday.
Diving queen Guo Jingjing, bidding to retain her 3-meter springboard champion in the
Beijing Olympics, and men's 3-meter springboard diving veteran Wang Feng, lighted, as the last torchbearers, the cauldron set at
Jinan Qilu Software Park, endpoint of the 44.7-kilometer-long route of the relay within Shandong.
A total of 832 torchbearers participated in the two-and-a half-day relay.
During the previous two days, the flame was winding through Qingdao, Linyi,
Qufu and Tai'an and finally arrived in Jinan, capital city of Shandong Province. The whole relay was incorporated with the glory of Chinese traditional culture, China's revolutionary history and modern Olympics.
The Olympic flame began its tour around Shandong from Olympic co-host city
Qingdao at 8:10 a.m. local time on Monday. Zhang Xiaodong, windsurfing world champion and silver medalist for women's Mistral at 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, ran as the first runner at the
Qingdao Olympic sailing center.
The torch was transferred for 1,000 meters in a sailboat on the sea, which highlighted the upcoming Olympic sailing event, which was due to open here on August 9.
The flame left
Qingdao for
Linyi later the day, an old revolutionary base area for the Chinese communist party, for the second leg in Shandong, where the flame witnessed the Yimeng Sprit of China's revolutionary years by passing by some typical scenic spots including Yihe River and Yimeng Square.
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.
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 May4th, 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.
Editor: Mu Xuequan
