Olympic torch relay concludes in Qingdao

WATCH VIDEO

Source: CCTV.com | 07-21-2008 13:46

The Olympic torch relay has wrapped up its journey through the Olympic co-host city of Qingdao in the coastal province of Shandong.

Torchbearer Zhang Xiaodong runs with  the torch during the 2008 Beijing  Olympic Games torch relay in Qingdao  city, east China's Shandong Province,  on July 21, 2008.

Zhang Xiaodong, a windsurfing world champion and silver medalist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, received the torch from Huang Sheng, vice governor of Shandong, as the first runner at the Qingdao Olympic sailing center.

The torch relay in Qingdao, covering 14-and-a-half kilometers and involving 259 torchbearers, is the first leg of the Olympic flame's tour in Shandong province.

The relay included a 1,000 meter stretch aboard sailboats, the first time the torch relay has takes place on the sea since starting its domestic tour. The mayor of Qingdao, Xia Geng, ended the torch relay by lighting a cauldron at the city's top beach.

The torch will head next to Linyi, an old revolutionary base area, for the second leg of the tour through Shandong.