JINGGANGSHAN, Jiangxi: Many of the 208 torchbearers in this East China city are getting ready to join the rescue effort in Sichuan province.
The opening ceremony of Thursday’s relay was low key with the poignant recitation of a poem written by the late Chairman Mao Zedong in Jinggangshan in 1928, when the revolution reached its critical point.
Local residents hold up a banner that reads, “Spread the Olympic Spirit and Support Earthquake-relief Efforts” while watching the Beijing Olympic torch relay in Jinggangshan, East China’s Jiangxi Province, May 15, 2008. [Xinhua]
In the poem, Chairman Mao calls on the revolutionary forces to “join together to make it happen”.
The poem was cited both as a tribute to the city’s history as the cradle of the Chinese revolution and as a call for public support and involvement in the rescue efforts in the disaster-hit areas of Sichuan.
Local residents hold up a banner that reads, “Supporing Quake-hit Areas = Supporting the Olympic Games” while watching the Beijing Olympic torch relay in Jinggangshan, East China’s Jiangxi Province, May 15, 2008. [Xinhua]
The torch relay started with Zhou Hechun, an athletics coach, at 8:15 am from the historical site of Huangyangjie, a 1,343-m hill and home to a tablet inscribed with one of Chairman Mao’s most famous quotes: “A single spark can start a prairie fire.”
Liu Hao, a model firefighter, ran the final leg through a square in the city’s new downtown area.
The flame passed by the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Museum - home to relics associated with Chairman Mao during his sojourn there - and the martyrs’ cemetery.
Many of the torchbearers expressed deep concern for the victims of the quake.
Among them were Jiang Yiman, vice-president of the Red Cross Society of China.
The charity organization has so far collected 320 million yuan ($45.7 million) for disaster relief, he said.
The first medical team and supplies of tents, food and water have arrived in Sichuan, and a second team with more aid will arrive today, he said.
Liu said as a firefighter, he has participated in numerous rescue efforts, the most recent being the snowstorms at the start of the year.
“More than 350 of my colleagues in Jiangxi province are ready to go to the disaster-hit areas,” Liu said.
“As a firefighter, I am ready to go at any time.”
American Paul Provost, 67, who has been teaching English at Jiangxi Normal University since 1999, said he was deeply impressed with the rescue efforts he had seen on TV.
“When you have something like that, you always look for the good side.
“It’s a calamity, but it gives others an opportunity to help, to show their goodness, because we get caught up searching for other things, material things unfortunately.
“This gives us a chance to use our material wealth to help people in need,” Provost said.
Gregory Brubaker from San Francisco, who teaches at the same university, said he remembered clearly the San Francisco earthquake of 1989 - three days without electricity, many people lost their homes, many died.
“But I would say San Francisco became a much better, more caring city after the quake,” he said.
Tags: Olympic torch relay
Attendance and torchbearers of torch relay in each of the next 98 legs across China will dedicate one minute of silence to the lives lost in the massive earthquake in southwest China, the Beijing Games organizers decided Tuesday night.