Torchbearer Ouyang Ziyuan (L), academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and chief scientist of the lunar exploration program receives the torch from Shi Zongyuan, secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the launching ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay in Guiyang, capital of southwest China’s Guizhou Province on June 12, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)
GUIYANG, June 12 (Xinhua) — The Beijing Olympic torch relay in Guiyang started in a drizzle at 8:15 a.m. local time on Thursday at the People’s Square, with the first leg run by Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist on China’s moon exploration project.
“I feel so honored to be selected by Guiyang,” said the 73-year-old Ouyang, who was born and spent most of his life in Guiyang.
The “City of Forests” is the first stop of the relay in Guizhou, which is located on the east of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in southwest China.