Olympic torch relay starts 2nd day in final leg

Torchbearer Li Zhonghua runs with the torch during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games torch relay in Beijing, China, Aug. 6, 2008. (Xinhua/An Zhiping)

Torchbearer Li Zhonghua (2nd R) poses with the next torchbearer Dang Qiang during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games torch relay in Beijing, China, Aug. 6, 2008. (Xinhua/An Zhiping)

BEIJING, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Olympic torch relay started its second day in the final leg in Beijing at the landmark Badaling section of the Great Wall on Thursday morning.

After a 5-minute opening ceremony, the first torchbearer Li Zhonghua, a famous Chinese test pilot, started his stretch at 7:10 a.m. and ran onto the Great Wall.

Li and 17 other torchbearers carried and relayed the Olympic torch by climbing up an about 930-meter section of the Great Wall. After passing through two beacon towers, the 18th torchbearer Wang Ning climbed onto the Beisi Tower and displayed the torch to the joyful crowd, marking the end of the relay on the Great Wall.

Cheerful crowd had gathered at the scene since the early morning, holding high their red Chinese national flags and the white flags of the Beijing Olympics.

Located more than 70 km north of downtown Beijing, this section, in Yanqing County, is the most well-preserved part of the Great Wall, built during the Ming Dynasty. This section, with an average altitude of more than 1,000 meters, is the outpost of the Juyongguan Pass, a military stronghold on the Great Wall.

After the Great Wall, the Olympic flame left for Changping District, south of Yanqing, and continued the torch relay there.

The second day of the relay would see a total of 268 torchbearers carrying the Olympic torch and running on a 14.58-km route in 3 hours and 4 minutes.