Xinhua
Beijing, March 7 (Xinhua) The Olympic Torch relay will stop for two hours at Tiananmen Square here on the eve of the Olympic Games, a Chinese official has said. A ceremony will be held at the square after the torch arrives after circling the world and going through every province and region of China, said Jiang Gongmin, head of the Beijing Bureau of Culture.

He said that the torch would circle half the square, the world’s largest spanning 440,000 square meters, or larger than 50 football fields. Afterwards, a fire-lighting ceremony and art performance would be staged.

Tiananmen Square will be the last leg of the relay before the torch enters the National Stadium. It will also be the starting spot of the marathon event of the Games.

The relay is to have 21,880 Chinese and foreign torch bearers along the 137,000-kilometre route, which will include the world’s highest mountain, Mount Qomolangma.
Xinhua