In a tradition introduced before the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the flame is lit from the sun's rays in ancient Olympia, Greece, then carried across the globe by thousands of runners.

"This is the pride of the Chinese people," worker Xu Min said amid wildly cheering crowds watching the flame in Sichuan province's capital Chengdu before it left for Beijing.

The torch will travel past city landmarks before reaching the main Bird's Nest stadium for the opening ceremony on August 8.

Music and singing floated into the air overnight from the gleaming, steel-latticed venue as thousands prepared for that extravaganza timed for eight o'clock on the eighth day of the eighth month: the number symbolizes fortune in China.