Joy
China sets the great Olympic flame alight on August 8; the Chinese see their hero make the country's first ever spacewalk on September 25; fly to Taiwan directly from December; even a single day's rebound of the stock market brings relief... these events pass happiness on to 2009 just like the Olympic torch relay...
![Defending Olympic champions China will take their title defense to the semifinals of the Women's Volleyball tournament after defeating Russia 25-22, 27-25, 25-19 in the quarterfinal match on Tuesday, August 19. Reaching the gold medal match will not be easy: their opponent in the semis will be Brazil, who has yet to drop a set in six matches in Beijing. [Xinhua]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20081230/000bcdb95f1d0ac3fda54c.jpg){kind=small}