In front of the symbolic Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, deaf-mute flame collector Jiang Xintian lit the flame out of a concave, burnished mirror. The flame was then handed to Jin Jing, the wheel chaired fencer and Olympic torchbearer before it lit a torch held by Liu Qi, president of the organizing committee of the just concluded Beijing Olympic Games.
Liu passed the torch to Wen Jiabao, who lit a cauldron and announced the beginning of the 9-day torch relay.
The flame-lighting ceremony was also attended by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping and another senior Communist Party of China official Zhou Yongkang.
The sacred flame will be sent to Xi'an in Northwest China and Shenzhen in the south, where the relay will be launched on August 29 and 30 respectively.
A total of 850 torchbearers will participate in the relays along two routes through 11 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.
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