Olympic Flame : Reaches Mount Everest

2008-05-08T10:05:00.000-07:00

BEIJING (May 8) - A Chinese mountaineering team took the Olympic flame to the top of the world Thursday, a spectacular feat dreamed up to underscore China's ambitions for the Beijing games.
The climbers could be heard struggling for breath in a live television broadcast as five torchbearers each shuffled a few feet before passing on the flame to the next person. A colorful Tibetan prayer flag lined the path and fluttered in the wind.

The final torchbearer, a Tibetan woman named Cering Wangmo, stood silently on the peak with her torch while other team members unfurled small Chinese and Olympic flags. They then clustered together, cheering "We made it," and "Beijing welcomes you."

"One World, One Dream," team captain Nyima Cering yelled as his torch was lit, repeating the slogan for the Beijing Olympics. "We have lit the torch on top of the world," another climber said.

The 19-member team, dressed in red parkas emblazoned with Olympic logos, broke camp at 27,390 feet before dawn and reached the summit of the 29,035-foot mountain a little more than six hours later.

The stop at the top of Everest was meant to be the highlight of the Beijing Olympics torch relay. China has billed the Beijing Olympics as a glorious showcase of its rapid development from impoverished agrarian nation to industrial powerhouse.

But the Everest relay has been criticized from the outset because of China's often harsh rule over Tibet - where the mountain is located - and it drew even more intense scrutiny after Tibetans across western China erupted in anti-government protests in March.

Organizers hoped the dramatic image of the torch atop Everest would counter some of the damaging publicity from protests that marred the international leg of the torch relay.

Tibetan activists accuse Beijing of using the climb to reassert its control over Tibet. China says it has ruled Tibet for centuries, although many Tibetans say their homeland was essentially an independent state for most of that time.

Politics aside, taking the torch to Everest's peak and broadcasting it live was a technological feat. China's state broadcaster CCTV spent heavily to build a television studio at base camp and to construct transmission points at four camps on the mountain face.

The team used torches designed by rocket scientists to take the flame along the final icy incline leading to the peak of Mount Everest.

Fueled by propane, the flame burned brightly in the frigid, windy, oxygen-thin Himalayan air thanks to technology that keeps rocket motors burning in the upper reaches of the atmosphere, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

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 to the torch.

The Everest flame is separate from the main Olympic torch, which on Thursday was on the opposite side of China, in the southeastern province of Guangdong, the heart of Chinese manufacturing. The main torch was not taken up Everest because a delay due to bad weather would have thrown the schedule off for the whole relay.

The main flame will cross every region and province of China, returning to Beijing on Aug. 6, two days ahead of the opening ceremony.

The 19-member final assault team was comprised of both ethnic Han Chinese and Tibetan members, underscoring another government theme - ethnic unity. The team captain and the final torchbearer were both Tibetans.

Beijing Olympic flame arrives in Canberra

2008-04-24T08:45:00.000-07:00

Jiang Xiaoyu (L), executive vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG), Chinese ambassador Zhang Junsai pose with the lantern which holds the Olympic flame at the airport in Canberra, the capital of Australia, April 23, 2008. The flame of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games arrives in Canberra Wednesday morning for Thursday's torch relay through the heart of the city, the 15th leg of its global torch relay.
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CANBERRA, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The plane carrying the Beijing Olympics flame landed in Canberra Wednesday morning for Thursday's torch relay through the heart of the city.

Air China Airbus A330 touched down at Fairbairn Airport about 7.50 a.m. (AEST) from Jakarta.

Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Chief Minister Jon Stanhope, Sports Minister Kate Ellis, President of the Australian Olympic Committee John Coates and Chinese ambassador Zhang Junsai were at the airport to meet the sacred flame.

The Airbus is the official Olympic plane which has been traveling the world with the flame during the torch relay.

The flame lantern was carried off the plane by Jiang Xiaoyu, Vice President of Beijing Organizing Committee of Olympic Games and Chinese ambassador Zhang Junsai.

Indigenous elder Agnes Shea of the Ngunnawal people presented the message stick to the Chinese officials.

"I welcome the Olympic torch to Australia in the spirit of peace on behalf of my people, whose history of this places goes back to the beginning of time," Ms Shea said.

"The words contained within our message stick today are about welcoming our visitors to our country and of the great peace and good fortune for the Beijing Olympic torch relay," Ms Shea continued.

"In this way the torch is the message stick of the Olympic movement. We want the story of the torch while it is Canberra to be one of peace and understanding.

"The torch is after all promoting a journey of harmony, may its stay here be one that symbolizes good will for all mankind."

ACT Chief Minister Stanhope said the next 48 hours were an opportunity to address each other as friends do, with respect and honesty.

"An opportunity to showcase the splendor of this capital city of which we Canberrans are so proud," he said.

"In a robust and mature democracy such as ours there is no particular danger in mixed messages."

Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) president John Coates said the international journey of the flame was the most ambitious and longest route ever planned for an Olympic torch relay.

Coates said both Australian games - Melbourne 1956 and Sydney 2000 - were noted for their efficient organization, the quality of competition and the sense of pervading friendliness.

"In just 107 days, after the flame has completed its awesome journey having covered an impressive 137,000 kilometers, we will see it burning at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games.

"Australia will be proudly represented by a team of 440 athletes ready to write the next chapter in Australia's rich Olympic history. I can't wait."

Sports Minister Ellis said it was her special duty to welcome the torch and the Chinese guests on behalf of the Australian government.

"Australia has a long tradition not just of participation in the Olympic Games but also a great record of success," she said.

"The Olympic spirit is a good one that I hope burns brightly both today and tomorrow but of course in the Games in Beijing later this year."

Jiang Xiaoyu thanked the Australian hosts and said Australia has held Olympic Games and understand the spirits of the Olympic Games.

Olympic 2008

Olympic Flame : Reaches Mount Everest

Beijing Olympic flame arrives in Canberra