Olympic torch starts final-hours run at Beijing's archaeological site

The first torchbearer Feng Gong holds up the torch at the start of the last-day of Beijing Olympic Games torch relay in Zhoukoudian of Beijing, China, Aug. 8, 2008. The Olympic torch started its final-hours relay on Friday morning at Zhoukoudian, an UNESCO heritage site in southwestern Beijing suburb which has yielded many archaeological discoveries. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli Photo)

The torchbearer Hou Xinyi holds up the torch during the last-day of Beijing Olympic Games torch relay in Beijing, China, Aug. 8, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)

BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Olympic torch started its final-hours relay on Friday morning at Zhoukoudian, an UNESCO heritage site in southwestern Beijing suburb which has yielded many archaeological discoveries.

Amid loud music and cheers, the first torchbearer Feng Gong, one of the best Chinese comedian, carried the torch and start running at around 7:08 a.m.

It was the final day of a three-day relay in Beijing, about 12 hours before the Beijing Games opens. A total of 140 torchbearers would run in turn on a 7.9-km route.

The relay will end at about 12:15 p.m. at the No.101 Middle School of Beijing, also home to the Olympic Youth Camp.

Zhoukoudian was most famous as the site where the archaeological treasure Peking Man, one of the first specimens of Homo erectus, was discovered.