page_title: 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay
section_title: International and HK&Macau leg
hierarchical_section_title: 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay / Sequence of events / International and HK&Macau leg
caption_attribution_description: Fuwa in Macau
context_page_description: The 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from March 24 until August 8, 2008, prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics, with the theme of "one world, one dream". Plans for the relay were announced on April 26, 2007, in Beijing, China. The relay, also called by the organizers as the "Journey of Harmony", lasted 129 days and carried the torch 137,000 km – the longest distance of any Olympic torch relay since the tradition was started ahead of the 1936 Summer Olympics.
  After being lit at the birthplace of the Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece on March 24, the torch traveled to the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, and then to Beijing, arriving on March 31. From Beijing, the torch was following a route passing through six continents. The torch has visited cities along the Silk Road, symbolizing ancient links between China and the rest of the world. The relay also included an ascent with the flame to the top of Mount Everest on the border of Nepal and Tibet, China from the Chinese side, which was closed specially for the event.
context_section_description:  Greece: On March 24, 2008, the Olympic Flame was ignited at Olympia, Greece, site of the ancient Olympic Games. The actress Maria Nafpliotou, in the role of a High Priestess, ignited the torch of the first torchbearer, a silver medalist of the 2004 Summer Olympics in taekwondo Alexandros Nikolaidis from Greece, who handed the flame over to the second torchbearer, Olympic champion in women's breaststroke Luo Xuejuan from China.
  Following the recent unrest in Tibet, three members of Reporters Without Borders, including Robert Ménard, breached security and attempted to disrupt a speech by Liu Qi, the head of Beijing's Olympic organising committee during the torch lighting ceremony in Olympia, Greece. The People's Republic of China called this a "disgraceful" attempt to sabotage the Olympics. On March 30, 2008 in Athens, during ceremonies marking the handing over of the torch from Greek officials to organizers of the Beijing games, demonstrators shouted 'Free Tibet' and unfurled banners; some 10 of the 15 protesters were taken into police detention. After the hand-off, protests continued internationally, with particularly violent confrontations with police in Nepal.
   China: In China, the torch was first welcomed by Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang and State Councilor Liu Yandong. It was subsequently passed onto CPC General Secretary Hu Jintao. A call to boycott French hypermart Carrefour from May 1 began spreading through mobile text messaging and online chat rooms amongst the Chinese over the weekend from April 12, accusing the company's major shareholder, the LVMH Group, of donating funds to the Dalai Lama. There were also calls to extend the boycott to include French luxury goods and cosmetic products. According to the Washington Times on April 15, however, the Chinese government was attempting to "calm the situation" through censorship: "All comments posted on popular Internet forum Sohu.com relating to a boycott of Carrefour have been deleted." Chinese protesters organized boycotts of the French-owned retail chain Carrefour in major Chinese cities including Kunming, Hefei and Wuhan, accusing the French nation of pro-secessionist conspiracy and anti-Chinese racism. Some burned French flags, some added Nazism's Swastika to the French flag, and spread short online messages calling for large protests in front of French consulates and embassy. The Carrefour boycott was met with anti-boycott demonstrators who insisted on entering one of the Carrefour stores in Kunming, only to be blocked by boycotters wielding large Chinese flags and hit by water bottles. The BBC reported that hundreds of people demonstrated in Beijing, Wuhan, Hefei, Kunming and Qingdao.
  In response to the demonstrations, an editorial in the People's Daily urged Chinese people to "express [their] patriotic enthusiasm calmly and rationally, and express patriotic aspiration in an orderly and legal manner".
   Kazakhstan: The first torchbearer in Almaty, where the Olympic torch arrived for the first time ever on April 2, was the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev. The route ran 20 km from Medeo stadium to Astana Square. There were reports that Uighur activists were arrested and some were deported back to China.
   Turkey: The torch relay leg in Istanbul, held on April 3, started on Sultanahmet Square and finished in Taksim Square. Uyghurs living in Turkey protested at Chinese treatment of their compatriots living in Xinjiang. Several protesters who tried to disrupt the relay were promptly arrested by the police.
   Russia: On April 5 the Olympic torch arrived at Saint Petersburg, Russia. The length of the torch relay route in the city was 20 km, with the start at the Victory Square and finish at the Palace Square. Mixed martial arts icon and former PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko was one the torch bearers. This gives him the distinction of the being the first active MMA fighter to carry the Olympic flame.
   Great Britain: The torch relay leg held in London, the host city of the 2012 Summer Olympics, on April 6 began at Wembley St
caption: Fuwa designs along the relay way
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