Beijing Olympic Games

Updated: 2008-07-10

(CHIFENG, July 10) — At 9:38 a.m. on Thursday, film star Siqingaowa lit the cauldron at Yulong Square to conclude the 6.3km Chifeng leg of the Olympic Torch Relay in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region.

At 8:15 a.m., Narisu, an outstanding tourism employee in China, carried the torch from Cheboer Folk Park to begin the morning’s events. A total of 208 torchbearers took part in the relay in Chifeng, which is located beyond the Great Wall and is the birthplace of the Hongshan civilization.

Located at the conjunction of Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, Hebei and Liaoning Provinces, Chifeng has an area of 90,021 square kilometers and 12 administrative prefectures.

Being the most populous city in the autonomous region, Chifeng has a population of 4.6 million, of which 19.3 percent are part of the Mongolian ethnic group and 73 percent are Han. Twenty-eight ethnic groups form the rest of the region’s inhabitants.

Sheep and cattle wander over grasslands that occupy over half of the city, presenting a beautiful panorama not very far from Beijing.

The Olympic flame heads to Harbin next, to continue the Olympic Torch Relay in Heilongjiang Province.