Beijing 2008 Torch Replay 火炬接力

Logo of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay

The Logo of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay owes much of its inspiration to the traditional concept of “fire phoenix”, and presents the image of two runners holding the Olympic Flame high. As ancient Chinese legend has it, phoenix is the king of all birds, and symbolizes good fortune, eternity, nobility and happiness. The use of the phoenix image in the Torch Relay logo conveys the idea that the Torch Relay will send the best wishes from the Beijing Olympic Games to people all over China and the rest of the world.

Theme of the relay is “Journey of Harmony”.

The theme embodies the Olympic ideal of ‘placing sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity’. ‘Harmony’ boasts strong Chinese characteristics, and expresses the traditional Chinese philosophy in pursuit of a balance between man and nature, among people and between man’s body and soul. It also supports Chinese people’s wish of building a harmonious society of enduring peace and common prosperity.

Slogan of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay

The slogan of the relay is “Light the Passion Share the Dream”. The slogan is highly expressive of the theme and distinctive in sentence structure. “Light the passion” captures the spirit of Olympic Torch Relay and is inspiring. “Share the Dream” falls within Olympic language terminology and correlates with the staging concepts of the Beijing Olympic Games and its “One World One Dream” slogan. The slogan is simple, meaningful and easy to remember, read and share.

Global Route Map of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay

Under the theme of “Journey of Harmony,” the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay started its worldwide journey on April 1, 2008. The sacred flame has so far passed through Almaty in Kazakhstan, Istanbul in Turkey, St. Petersburg in Russia and London in Britain. People along the Torch Relay route have extended the flame a warm welcome and the relay is proceeding successfully as planned.

All the worl keep their eyes on Beijing Olympic torch replay today. Can you try speaking out the  Chinese names of your visiting cities? Here ChineseHour lists all the cities in English, Chinese and Pinin for your reference.

ChineseHour.com is your best place to learn Chinese online, our private teachers can help to practise speaking Chinese anytime, anywher and on anything!

April 1: Beijing 北京 beijing

April 2: Almaty 阿拉木图 a la mu tu
 
April 3: Istanbul 伊斯坦布尔 yi si tan bu er
 
April 5: St. Petersburg 圣彼得堡 sheng bi de bao
 
April 6: London 伦敦 lun dun
 
April 7: Paris 巴黎 ba li
 
April 9: San Francisco 旧金山 jiu jin shan
 
April 11: Buenos Aires 布宜诺斯艾利斯 bu yi nuo si ai li si
 
April 13: Dar es Salaam 达累斯萨拉姆 da lei si sa la mu
 
April 14: Muscat 马斯喀特 ma si ke te
 
April16: Islamabad 伊斯兰堡 yi si lan bao
 
April 17: New Delhi 新德里 xin de li
 
April 19: Bangkok 曼谷 man gu
 
April 21: Kuala Lumpur 吉隆坡 ji long po
 
April 22: Jakarta 雅加达 ya jia da

April 24: Canberra 堪培拉 kan pei la

April 26: Nagano 长野 chang ye
 
April 27: Seoul 首尔 shou er

April 28: Pyongyang 平壤 ping rang

April 29: Ho Chi Minh City 胡志明市 hu zhi ming shi
 
May 2: Hong Kong 香港 xiang gang
 
May 3: Macao 澳门 ao men