Beijing Olympic Games

Updated: 2008-06-13

(KAILI, GUIZHOU PROVINCE, June 13) — At 11:45 a.m. on Friday, Liao Shaohua, party chief of Qian Dongnan Autonomous Prefecture, ignited the cauldron of the Olympic flame at the Qian Dongnan Autonomous Prefecture Ethnic Stadium, marking the end of the Olympic Torch Relay in Kaili, the flame’s second stop in Guizhou Province in southwestern China.

A total of 208 torchbearers ran along a route of 19.3 kilometers, concluding the 45th leg of the relay in the Chinese mainland.

Earlier today, the relay started from Upper Langde Miao Village in Leishan County of the Qian Dongnan Autonomous Prefecture. The village was awarded the name of “Hometown of Chinese Folk Arts” by the Ministry of Culture because of its rich ethnic culture.

People at the Stadium welcomed the arrival of the Olympic torch, an unprecedented event in the region where Miao, Dong and other ethnic groups live.