Instead of flying or taking a train, a man has cycled over a thousand miles to Beijing, bringing his 98-year-old grandma to fulfill her Olympic dream.
Liu Xianghui, 38, and his grandma Xiao Xincui, rode their tricycle to Niujie in Xuanwu District on Wednesday afternoon, to experience the Olympic torch relay, Rednet.cn reported.
They arrived in Beijing early in April after completing a month-long odyssey from their home in Ningyuan County, in central China's Hunan Province.
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Liu Xianghui (L) and his grandma Xiao Xincui gesture as people take photos of them in Beijing on August 6, 2008. [photo: Rednet.cn] |
The two had to spend 1,000 yuan (US$146) a month renting a living place as they eagerly wait for the August 8 opening ceremony, but Liu says the Olympics are worth waiting for.
Grandma Xiao was also excited. Sitting on the tricycle on Wednesday, she kept making "V for Victory" gestures as crowds were drawn around them.
Liu says he and his grandma are particularly looking forward to August 22, because someone has presented them with a ticket to the track-and-field competition on that day.
Liu runs a small business back home, and is not financially challenged. But he says the idea of biking to Beijing hit him as soon as his grandma proposed watching the games.
"My grandma barely has traveled, and I wanted to take this opportunity to make her happy," Liu told Rednet.cn. "If we took a plane, she wouldn't have seen so many places."
(CRI August 8, 2008)