 New 1:
Flame for 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is lit
(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-03-24 18:47
 Greek actress Maria Nafpliotou, playing the role of the High Priestess, holds the torch aloft at the Olympic Flame-lighting Ceremony for the Beijing Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece March 24, 2008. [Xinhua] |
The torch for the 2008 Olympic Games has been lit successfully in ancient Olympia, Greece. The torch will begin a 130-day, 85,000-mile journey starting Monday. That will take it from the site of Olympia to Beijing, where the Summer Games is scheduled for August.
| Video |
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
| Rogue speech |
Flame lit |
Dance at ceremony |
|
While much of the trip will be aboard a chartered jet, tens of thousands of torch-bearers, including 19,400 in China, will carry the flame on foot through 23 cities on five continents and then throughout China, where tens of millions of ordinary people have been aspiring to see the arrival of the torch.
Televised live by China’s Central Television Station and major Chinese websites, the majority of office workers stayed before big or small screens, and felt heartedly sacred and joyful to witness the flame, lit by the sun’s rays on a concave steel mirror at the ruins of the Temple of Hera in Olympia.
| Relay Route |
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
| In Greece |
International |
In China |
Schedule |
The Greek actress Maria Nafpliotou, playing the role of the High Priestess, lit the first torch. It was carried the first mile by Alexandros Nikolaidis, a Greek athlete who won a silver medal in taekwondo at the 2004 Olympics in Greek capital Athens.
Luo Xuejuan, China's Olympic swimming gold medalist was the second bearer, taking the flame from Nikolaidis. Another 603 bearers are scheduled to run the flame through Greece, culminating in Athens on March 30, where the torch will be handed over to China for a chartered flight to Beijing.
After a gala party to greet its arrival in Beijing, the flame will move around the world through April. At the beginning of May, it begins a three-month trek through more than 100 Chinese cities.
The flame is set to arrive in Beijing on August 6, where it will be paraded around the city until entering the National Stadium for the Olympics opening ceremony on August 8.
In addition to visiting cities in Greece and China, relay runners plan to carry the torch to the following cities, listed in the order in which the torch is scheduled to visit: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Istanbul, Turkey; St. Petersburg, Russia; London, England; Paris, France; San Francisco, California, USA; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Muscat, Oman; Islamabad, Pakistan; New Delhi, India; Bangkok, Thailand; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Jakarta, Indonesia; Canberra, Australia; Nagano, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; Pyongyang, DPRK; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
News 2 :
Ma to recast economic and security ties with mainland
(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-03-24 10:25
Taiwan's leader-in-waiting, Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang Party, outlined ambitious plans to recast economic and security ties with the mainland, aiming for a peace accord ending 59 years of hostility across the Taiwan Strait.
 |
|
Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT) candidate Ma Ying-jeou(L) and running mate Vincent Siew celebrate victory in the island's leadership election in Taibei March 22, 2008. Ma outlined ambitious plans to recast economic and security ties with the mainland. [Agencies]
|
Ebullient after a decisive victory in Saturday's election, Ma said Sunday in Taibei that he would try to reach agreement with the mainland on a wide range of delicate issues because, unlike the independence-minded Chen Shuibian of the DPP, he is willing to do the practical things to improve ties on all fronts.
During an interview with the Washington Post, Ma seemed confident of his ability to move forward with Beijing on agreements covering direct airline flights, increased tourism from the better-off mainlanders, closer business ties, confidence-building military arrangements and even a formal end to the state of hostility in effect since Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan in 1949 with his Kuomintang or Nationalist followers, the Post reported.
Speaking at a packed news conference, Ma agreed he was setting out on a course that would be impossible to navigate without equal determination from the mainland. "These are very ambitious plans," he said. "They require the other side's goodwill."
A spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing, addressing a Taiwanese television crew in Beijing, expressed satisfaction that Taiwan voters rejected a pro-independence referendum at the same time as the vote on Saturday.
"It is the hope of the people on both sides of the strait to develop peaceful cross-strait relations," said the spokesman, Li Weiyi. "Therefore, all of us should work hard on it."
According to the Washington Post, Ma said that he based his confidence on three years of contacts between his Nationalist Party and the Communist Party of China (CPC) discussions that bypassed Chen Shuibian’ administration and Chen’s relentless emphasis on Taiwanese independence. Those talks have led him to believe that President Hu Jintao and Beijing are ready for dramatic changes now that Chen will no longer be Taiwan's leader, Ma said. In particular, he cited a statement by President Hu in November in which he expressed readiness to seek a peace accord with Taiwan under certain conditions.
They could begin talks, Ma said, by returning to an understanding reached in 1992 that was repudiated by the Chen Shui-bian government.
Beijing said that the "one-China principle" -- there is only one China in the world -- as a prerequisite for any talks. Taiwan endorsed the principle in 1992, when Kuomintang Party was in power, and said that both sides interpret the principle differently.
Ma said the first subject of discussion should be direct charter flights to and from mainland cities, which he predicted could be in operation every weekend by July. From there, he said, negotiations could begin about regular flights and increasing the number of mainland tourists allowed to visit Taiwan.
Within a short time, he predicted, Taiwan could draw as many as 3,000 mainland visitors a day, providing a boost to the island's economy and eroding the enmity built up over the last half-century of hostility. Under Taiwan's present restrictions, only 230,000 mainlanders visited the island in 2007.
"If everything goes right," he said, "I think that will significantly change the Taiwanese attitude toward the mainland."
At the same time, Ma said he wanted to open negotiations on a comprehensive agreement regulating economic ties between the two sides, particularly the nearly $125 billion a year in trade and the growing level of investment by Taiwanese businesses in the mainland. "The rules of the game, of the economic game, mean that the two sides have to get together," Ma said.
Negotiations should also be held on confidence-building measures between the two militaries, he said. Specifically, he suggested that military officers could meet to exchange advance information on deployments and troop movements to avoid misinterpretations and accidental alarms.
More broadly, he said, talks could get underway for the accord suggested by President Hu Jintao to set aside the hostility that has made the strait one of the world's most volatile flash points.
|
|
|
 Olympic torch relay officially launched
By Bernice Chan,Chen Bei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-03-31 12:31
Beijing – President Hu Jintao officially launched the Beijing Olympic torch relay Monday on the Tiananmen Square, marking the start of the torch's 130-day global tour before the 2008 summer Olympics in August.
Beijing mayor Guo Jinlong presided over the launch ceremony as China's 110m hurdles record-holder Liu Xiang was the first to carry the Olympic torch.
People celebrate the arrival of the Olympic flame in Tiananmen Square, March 31, 2008. [Xinhua] |
The torch arrived in Beijing to great fanfare. At Beijing Capital International Airport, hundreds of people waved Chinese and Olympic flags as the Air China plane arrived from Athens at 8:55am local time on Monday.
Yesterday the torch was handed over to Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee (BOCOG) after a six-day relay through Greece in a ceremony in the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens.
After the plane came to a stop on the Beijing tarmac, Liu Qi walked down the stairway carrying the flame in the Olympic lantern.
A short time afterwards the flame was whisked off to Tiananmen Square for a colorful welcoming ceremony. Dancers and acrobats gave a lively 20-minute performance to a seated audience in the square.
Special guests included those from the International Olympic Committee, the Hellenic Olympic Committee, as well as representatives from the Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions.
Liu Qi gave a speech, saying the Olympic flame "embodies hope and dreams, peace and harmony… spreading the message of peace and friendship uniting them under one world, one dream". He thanked the Greek government and the IOC for organizing the lighting ceremony and torch relay through Greece.
On behalf of IOC President Jacques Rogge, head of the IOC coordination commission Hein Verbruggen said the flame will "create anticipation and excitement wherever the flame passes". He added people will be touched by the Olympic flame, igniting their passion to participate in the event.
Vice President Xi Jinping also gave a short speech. "The century-old dream of the Chinese nation to host the Olympic Games has become a reality." Xi also said the Games was an opportunity to showcase the Chinese people's passion for the Olympics.
Following the speeches, President Hu Jintao took the torch and lit the cauldron before handing the torch to hurdler Liu Xiang. Hu then declared the torch relay was officially launched as Liu ran through the square.
On April 1, the torch will begin its global tour and arrive at Almaty, Kazakhstan first. It will visit 21 cities outside Chinese mainland and travel across 113 cities of all 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in the mainland.
The flame returns to Beijing on August 6.
|
|
|
Government plans to find oil, mineral reserves
By Xin Dingding (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-04-03 06:49
The search is on for domestic reserves of key resources, such as iron ore and crude oil, to reduce dependence on imports, according to a government plan released Wednesday.
By 2010, China aims to find 10 new oil fields, each with a reserve of at least 100 million tons, and eight to 10 new gas fields, each with a reserve of more than 100 billion cu m of natural gas, the national geological surveying and prospecting plan said.
By the same year, the country is also seeking to find about 200 large mines, with coal, iron and copper being the resources most urgently needed, the plan drafted by the Ministry of Land and Resources, said.
Ju Jianhua, deputy head of the ministry's planning department, said: "The plan is of strategic importance to China, which is becoming increasingly dependent on imports."
The country is the world's second largest crude oil importer. In 2006, it imported 145 million tons, which accounted for more than 45 percent of that year's total domestic consumption.
"The year-on-year increase of domestic crude oil production - 1.7 percent in 2006 - is far less than that of consumption, which is currently 12.8 percent," he said.
China is also the world's largest importer of iron and copper ores. In 2006, it imported 50 percent of its total requirement, he said.
"As a result of a slowdown in geological surveying since the 1980s, when China was moving towards a market-oriented economy, we are now facing the prospect that by 2020, domestic supplies of nearly 20 kinds of minerals could be insufficient to meet demand," he said.
New oil fields, gas fields and mines are being sought to provide an alternative to existing ones that are nearing exhaustion, Ju said.
"Five to 10 years after they have been found and verified, the fields can be developed and put into production. Their output will replace and hopefully surpass what is currently being generated," he said.
"This will help stabilize the price of iron ore and other resources."
Prospecting work currently under way for oil and gas fields and other mines is progressing well. Large oil fields have already been found in central and west China, and in offshore areas of the east, Ju said.
|
|
|
 Strategic dialogue helps USA, China
Hu: SED promotes relations
By Li Xiaokun (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-04-03 07:42
President Hu Jintao said Wednesday that China values the Sino-US Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) mechanism for its role in promoting economic and trade collaboration and bilateral relations.
As key economic players, China and the US have the responsibility to promote the stable and healthy development of the global economy, Hu told US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Wednesday afternoon at the Great Hall of the People.
Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) shakes hands with Henry M. Paulson, special representative of US President George W. Bush and the US Treasury Secretary, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, April 2, 2008. [Xinhua] |
Paulson, who arrived in Beijing Wednesday morning, is on a two-day visit to prepare for the next meeting of the SED scheduled for June in Washington.
The process was launched in 2006 to address trade frictions; and the biannual dialogue also serves as a platform to address long-term issues of mutual concern ranging from energy efficiency and copyright protection to the environment.
"The three SED sessions held so far have yielded positive results," Hu said. "They have played an important role in pushing forward Sino-US trade cooperation and bilateral relations."
Paulson reaffirmed the US commitment to promoting bilateral relations, adding that the sound development of the US and Chinese economies and Sino-US relations are important to both sides.
Earlier, Paulson met Vice-Premier Wang Qishan, his fellow co-chair of the SED.
This is the first time Wang has met Paulson after taking office as one of China's four vice-premiers in March. He has replaced retired vice-premier Wu Yi and taken charge of financial affairs, including the SED.
Paulson said he looked forward to working with Wang, whom he called a friend. The former Goldman Sachs banker has known Wang since the 1990s, when the latter was head of China Construction Bank.
Wang expressed sympathy for the thorny task Paulson has in handling the US credit crisis. "You looked very tired and worn out on TV. As an old friend, I was concerned," Wang said. "But now I see you here this morning, and you are glowing and robust."
Paulson briefed Wang on the current situation of the US economy; and noted that Washington opposes trade protectionism.
Paulson is today scheduled to meet Premier Wen Jiabao as well as deliver a speech on energy and the environment at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
|
|
|
 Hu: Reform, opening-up 'crucial choice' shaping China
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-12 16:37
BOAO, Hainan -- Chinese President Hu Jintao on Saturday said the reform and opening-up policy is a "crucial choice" that has shaped today's China, and a choice made by the 1.3 billion Chinese people.
Chinese President Hu Jintao delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) annual conference in Boao, Hainan on April 12, 2008. [Xinhua] |
This year is of special significance to China, Hu said at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) annual conference here in a speech entitled "Continuing Reform and Opening-up and Advancing Win-Win Cooperation".
"Thirty years ago, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese people resolutely embarked on the historic journey of reform and opening-up, an initiative taken by Deng Xiaoping. It started a great new revolution in China under the new historical circumstances," he said.
Over the past 30 years, the Chinese people had unswervingly carried out reform and opening-up and pursued socialist modernization, he said, adding the country had made great progress in terms of growing its economy, enhancing its overall national strength and improving the living standards of its people.
"China has successfully made the historic transition from a highly centralized planned economy to a robust socialist market economy and from a closed and semi-closed country to a country that is wide open to the outside world," the president said.
Hailing China's rapid economic growth, Hu said the Chinese people, once lacking basic living necessities, are now enjoying initial prosperity. He said the poor rural population in China has dropped from over 250 million to about 10 million.
Remarkable achievements have also been made in China's efforts to improve the political system and promote cultural development and social programs, he noted.
"If a country or a nation is to develop itself in this increasingly competitive world, it must advance with the times, carry out reform and opening-up, boost development, put people first and promote harmony. This is the conclusion we have drawn in the great cause of reform and opening-up," Hu said in his speech.
"There is no ready or unchanging path or model of development that suits all countries in the world," he said, adding China must explore and improve its development path and model in keeping with its national conditions.
"In so doing, we must adapt to new trends both at home and abroad and meet the people's growing expectation for a better life. We must make the Chinese society more vibrant. And we must truly keep up with the trend of the times and share the same destiny with the people," he said.
Calling China the biggest developing country in the world, Hu said the country still has a long way to go before it can basically achieve modernization and bring about common prosperity to all of its people.
"Reform and opening-up are what have made fast development in China possible in the last 30 years, and they also hold the key to China's future development," he said.
Hu also said the Chinese people are dedicated to the great cause of reform and opening-up, and will continue to build a society of initial prosperity in all respects and realize basic modernization in China and contribute further to the noble cause of peace and development of mankind.
|
|
|
 Hu calls for further mainland-Taiwan cooperation
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-13 08:22
BOAO, Hainan -- The economic and trade exchanges and cooperation between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan was facing a historical opportunity and needed joint efforts from both sides for further progress, Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said on Saturday.
|
Hu Jintao (R), general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, shakes hands with Vincent Siew, chairman of the Taiwan-based Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation, in Boao, south China's Hainan Province, April 12, 2008. [Xinhua]
|
Hu made the remarks while meeting with Vincent C. Siew, chairman of the Taiwan-based Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation at the Boao Forum for Asia.
Hu said under the new circumstances, the mainland would continue promoting cross-Straits economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation.
The mainland would also make efforts to push forward negotiations on weekend charter flights and mainland tourists' travel to Taiwan, Hu said.
He said the mainland would continue being concerned about Taiwan compatriots' welfare and protecting their legal rights and interests, and would step up efforts to restore cross-Straits negotiations and talks.
Hu said the fact that the forum was attended by so many participants from all walks of life home and abroad reflected from one aspect Asian countries and regions' strong desire to reinforce communication and cooperation and seek win-win solutions.
"The fact also inspired us to think deep about cross-Straits economic exchanges and cooperation under the new circumstances," Hu said.
Siew said the economies of the mainland and Taiwan were closely related, and the development of trade and economic relations had contributed to cross-Straits stability.
He hoped the weekend charter flights program would be launched as soon as possible and mainland tourists would soon travel to Taiwan, adding that direct flights and normal trade ties had become an inevitable choice.
Hu said the cross-Straits economic exchanges and cooperation had achieved a prominent progress after 20 years of development. Facts proved that the economic exchanges and cooperation was the most vigorous factor in the cross-Straits relations and an effective way to benefit people on both sides and expand their common interests.
Hu pointed out that in recent eight years, the cross-Straits relations "suffered twists and turns for reasons known to all", and people on both sides were not willing to see that.
He stressed that the peaceful development of the cross-Straits relations was the shared will and common interests of compatriots on both sides.
|
|
|
 Olympic flame on top of the world
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-09 07:36
The Olympic flame scaled the highest point on Earth as Chinese mountaineers carried it to Mount Qomolangma on Thursday - in what is the high point of the relay.
Chinese climbers hold the Olympic torch, the Olympic flag (L), the Chinese flag (C ) and the Beijing Olympics emblem at the peak of Mt. Qomolangma after the Olympic torch is lit at the peak of the mountain. The climbers carrying the Olympic torch stated to scale the peak at 3:00 am on Thursday morning and reached peak of 8848.43 meters around 9:17 am. [Xinhua] for more photos
|
Five mountaineers started relaying the torch atop the peak at around 9:12 am, a historic moment broadcast live by China Central Television.
"One World, One Dream," team captain Nyima Cering yelled as his torch was lit, repeating the slogan for the Beijing Olympics.
Norbu Zhamdul (L) lights the Beijing Olympic torch near the peak of Mt. Qomolangma at around 9:10 am on Thursday. The Chinese climbers carrying the Olympic torch stated to scale the peak at 3:00 am on Thursday morning and reached peak of 8848.43 meters around 9:17 am. [Xinhua]
|
The "Lucky Clouds" torch was lit at about 100 m from the summit amidst strong winds and minus-30 temperatures and then carried up by the five torchbearers - the unprecedented relay lasting about six minutes.
The climbers could be heard struggling for breath as they moved a few meters before passing on the flame to the next person.
The final torchbearer, a Tibetan woman named Cering Wangmo, stood silently on the peak with her torch while other team members unfurled Chinese and Olympic flags. They then came together, cheering "We made it" and "Beijing welcomes you" in Chinese, English and Tibetan.
The other three torchbearers were: Gyigyi, Wang Yongfeng, and Huang Chungui.
"I feel so good being the torchbearer. I know every climber wants to be a torchbearer," Gyigyi, a two-time Qomolangma climber, told CCTV ahead of the ascent.
A 19-member team, dressed in red parkas emblazoned with Olympic logos, broke camp at 8,300 m before dawn and reached the top of the 8,844-m mountain a little more than six hours later.
Chinese climbers hold the Olympic flag (L), the Chinese flag (C ) and the Beijing Olympics emblem at the peak of Mt. Qomolangma after the Olympic torch is lit at the peak of the mountain. The climbers carrying the Olympic torch stated to scale the peak at 3:00 am on Thursday morning and reached peak of 8848.43 meters around 9:17 am. [Xinhua]
|
The ambitious project to take the torch to the Himalayan peak was cast as the highlight of the relay ahead of the Games, which starts in exactly three months.
"We have fulfilled a promise to the world and a dream of all the Chinese people," base camp commander Li Zhixin told reporters after being mobbed by jubilant friends and colleagues.
"The success belongs not only to the mountaineering team, but also to our country," said Hu Jiayan, deputy director of the General State Administration of Sports.
Li said the team had planned to carry the torch to the peak late last month.
"But strong winds and heavy snow delayed us again and again. This week we had the first window of good weather."
Vice-President Xi Jinping congratulated the climbers for their feat.
"This is one of the greatest events in the history of the Olympic Games and a precious gift by the Chinese to the Olympics and people worldwide," Xi said in a message to climbers.
The torch was designed by Chinese rocket scientists.
Fueled by propane, the flame burned brightly in the windy, oxygen-thin Himalayan air thanks to technology that keeps rocket motors burning in the upper reaches of the atmosphere.
"We installed a pressure-retaining valve in the torch, which enables the flame to withstand winds of up to 65 kph, nearly 6 cm of rain an hour, and temperatures of minus 40 C," Liu Xingzou, the chief engineer of the project, said earlier.
The flame was carried most of the way in a special metal canister. As the team neared the summit, they used a wand to pass the flame from the canister to the torch.
Beijing promised to take the torch to Mount Qomolangma in its bidding campaign. The organizers chose a team of 36 climbers consisting of both ethnic Tibetans and Han Chinese; and 19 were picked for the final ascent.
China Central Television began airing the ascent live at 6 am with the help of eight cameramen who used portable microwave transmitters to send signals to a satellite ground station at the base camp.
The flame that crested the peak was taken from the main Olympic torch when it arrived in Beijing in March.
The Beijing organizers put on hold the main torch relay in the southern city of Shenzhen on Thursday while the final push for the summit was taking place.
The Qomolangma flame will be reunited with the main flame later in the relay when it passes through Lhasa in mid-June.
Xinhua, agencies contributed to the story
A TV grab shows Chinese climbers carrying the Olympic flame scale the summit of Mt. Qomolangma on Thursday morning. The climbers started the final ascent from the camp at 8,300 meters of the mountain at 3:00 am on Thursday and are expected to reach the summit at around 10:00 am. [Xinhua]
|
The camp of Chinese climbers carrying the Olympic flame at 8,300 meters of the Mt. Qomolangma is seen in this picture taken on May 7, 2008. The climbers started the final ascent of the peak at 3:00 am from the camp and are due to reach summit at around 10:00 am. [Xinhua] |
The camp of Chinese climbers carrying the Olympic flame at 8,300 meters of the Mt. Qomolangma is seen in this picture taken on May 7, 2008. The climbers started the final ascent of the peak at 3:00 am from the amp and are due to reach summit at around 10:00 am. [Xinhua]
|
Li Zhixin, the commander-in-chief of the Beijing Olympic flame Qomolangma mountaineering team contacts with climbers carrying the flame en route to the summit from the base camp at the foot of the mountain May 8, 2008. The climbers started the final ascent from the camp at 8,300 meters of the mountain at 3:00 am on Thursday and are expected to reach the summit at around 10:00 am. [Xinhua] |
A TV grab shows Chinese climbers carrying the Olympic flame scale the summit of Mt. Qomolangma on Thursday morning. The climbers started the final ascent from the camp at 8,300 meters of the mountain at 3:00 am on Thursday and are expected to reach the summit at around 10:00 am. [Xinhua]
|
A TV grab shows Chinese climbers carrying the Olympic flame scale the summit of Mt. Qomolangma on Thursday morning. The climbers started the final ascent from the camp at 8,300 meters of the mountain at 3:00 am on Thursday and are expected to reach the summit at around 10:00 am. [Xinhua] |
A TV grab shows Chinese climbers carrying the Olympic flame scale the summit of Mt. Qomolangma on Thursday morning. The climbers started the final ascent from the camp at 8,300 meters of the mountain at 3:00 am on Thursday and are expected to reach the summit at around 10:00 am. [Xinhua] |
Chinese climbers carrying the Olympic flame scale the summit of Mt. Qomolangma on Thursday morning. The torch arrived at the summit at around 09:17. [Xinhua] |
A TV grab shows Chinese climbers carrying the Olympic flame scale the summit of Mt. Qomolangma on Thursday morning. The torch arrived at the summit at around 09:17. [Xinhua] |
Chinese climbers carrying the Olympic flame scale the summit of Mt. Qomolangma on Thursday morning. The torch arrived at the summit at around 09:17. [Xinhua] |
Cering Wangmo, the last of the five torchbearers on Mt. Qomolangma holds the torch at the peak of the mountain. The torch reached the peak of the world's highest mountain on Thursday morning. [Xinhua] |
A Chinese climber holds the Olympic torch near the summit of Mt. Qomolangma on Thursday morning. The torch arrived at the summit at around 09:17. [Xinhua] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
