Features: Scroll-shaped Olympic Torch

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Source: CCTV.com | 04-27-2007 09:03

The torch has been dubbed "The Cloud of Promise" in what organisers says is an innovative design that celebrates 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. Other says it also fuses traditional art with contemporary touches.

The torch for the 29th Olympiad incorporates several symbols of Chinese culture, philosophy and art.

The design pays homage to the ancient Chinese reverence of harmony and fareness while evoking the Olympic spirit through color, shape, decoration, texture and technology.

Chief designer Yao Yingjia explains why clouds play such a prominent part.

Yao Yingjia said, "Cloud, for Chinese, you know, means coming together, floating and creating some new things. That is very similar to the Olympic theme - people come together, sharing the happiness."

The form of the torch is based on a curled sheet of paper - one of the four major inventions China has given the world.

Made of aluminum alloy, its total weight is just 1,000 grams.

The award-winning Lenovo design team of over 30 specialists from across the globe spent more than 10 months developing the style of the torch.

Yao Yingjia said, "When we were doing the design of the torch, we have a better stage to demonstrate our talent because there is a greater theme for the Olympics. So we have a much larger stage on which our mind and our emotion can dance in a more active way."

The lighting of the Olympic flame will take place in Olympia, Greece next March, marking the start of the international phase of the torch relay.