Torchbearer Daga displays the torch at the launching ceremony during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay in Qinghai Lake, northwest China’s Qinghai Province, on June 23, 2008.(Xinhua Photo)
By Hu Ruoyu, Qian Rong
The Olympic flame passed along the Qinghai Lake, China’s largest lake and a sacred lake in the heart of Tibetan people, on Monday, greeted by white hada and barley wine.
The Qinghai Lake is the second stop of the flame at the northwest Qinghai Province.
A total of 162 torchbearers ran 6 kilometers along the south lakeshore, which is located in Gonghe County, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Hainan. Nearly half of the torchbearers are Tibetans.
“My village is more than 180 kilometers far from here. There are some of my villagers coming to see me pass the flame today,” said the second torchbearer Cesauja, a retired village official.
Hundreds of richly dressed local Tibetan people gathered in the starting ceremony, which began on 10:50 a.m., singing and dancing to welcome the flame, a honorable guest from afar.
“I’m very happy and excited. I’ve never thought of being chosenas the first torchbearer, not mention the one in Qinghai Lake, our beautiful, sacred Qinghai Lake,” said the first torchbearer Dagar, an ethnic Mongolian doctor and quake hero.
Local Tibetan and other ethnic residents, including dozens of Tibetan pupils, greeted the flame and torchbearers along the route. From the starting point to the end, they hailed “Go Olympics, Go China” and waved a nearly-6 km-long white had which was tied by more than 2600 small ones.,
“I’m an indigenous Tibetan here. I’m very proud to carry the torch and run along our scared lake,” said the 104th torchbearer Doje Cerang. “It feels so great!”