May 14th, official website of the Olympic Games - At 7:40 in the morning, the starting ceremony for the Beijing Olympic torch relay at Ruijin station in Jiangxi province began. Today, there will be two Red Army veterans over 90 years old serving as torchbearers, holding the "Lucky Cloud" torch.
It is understood that considering the whole nation's concerted efforts in earthquake relief work, after consultation with provincial committees and people's governments including Jiangxi, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games has decided that from the Jiangxi leg onwards, the torch relay will adhere to the principle of safety first, reduce scale, simplify procedures, emphasize simplicity, and focus on practical results.
Before the start of the torch relay, all participants will observe a one-minute silence to mourn the compatriots who lost their lives in the earthquake disaster. Donation boxes have been set up at the starting point, end point, and along the route of the torch relay, with banners such as "When one place is in difficulty, support comes from all sides" and "United as one, we can overcome all difficulties" hung to closely combine the enthusiasm of the general public participating in the Olympic torch relay with practical actions in earthquake relief, inspiring the whole country with patriotism to spare no effort in doing a good job in earthquake relief work.