The Beijing Olympic torch relay in World Heritage City Lijiang started at 8:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday at the People's Square in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, with the first leg run together by a local boy and a girl from quake-hit Sichuan Province.
He Zhensheng and Zhang Zilan start the torch relay in Lijiang, Yunnan Province on June 10, 2008.
He Zhensheng, with the name literally meaning born in earthquake, who was a 12-year-old Naxi ethnic boy born on February 3rd, 1996 when a magnitude-7.0 earthquake hit Lijiang City, was handed the torch first with a 13-year-old girl, Zhang Zilan, who was an orphan losing her parents in the deadly May 12 quake in Sichuan Province.
He Zhensheng and Zhang Zilan run with Olympic torch in Lijiang, Yunnan Province on June 10, 2008.
"It is a torch to pass love and warm, witness and reflect the unity and power of all Chinese people. These two young torchbearers both suffered great disaster. The boy and Lijiang City have recovered well with help from all over the country. We hope the torch relay represents our wish that the girl together with Sichuan Province will recover as soon as possible and develop well," Mayor of Lijiang City Wang Junzheng told Xinhua.
He Zhensheng and Zhang Zilan run with Olympic torch in Lijiang, Yunnan Province on June 10, 2008.