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The sacred Olympic flame was set out its journey in Suzhou city on Sunday, the first leg in eastern China's Jiangsu province.
Sun Zhi'an, the first badminton world champion of Jiangsu province, has open the 17-kilometer relay at 8:00 a.m. local time, starting from the city's Suzhou Amusement Park and ending at the Century Square of the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park.

A total of 104 torchbearers has observe a minute of silence to the victims of the 8.0-magnitude quake that hit China's Sichuan province at 2:28 p.m. on May 12.

The Olympic torch pass the local landmarks and historic sites such as the Jinghang Canal, also called The Great Canal, the Pan Gate Scenic Area, and tours the ancient city of Suzhou.

The Great canal, the longest and earliest canal in the world, starts north in Beijing and ends south in Hangzhou, capital city of Zhejiang Province, with a total length of 1,794 kilometers, connecting the Haihe River, Yellow River, Huaihe River, Yangtze River and Qiantangjiang River.

Pan Gate, also called Panmen Gate, part of the ancient Suzhou city wall built in 514 B.C., enjoys a history of 2,500 years, and was taken as the complex of both land and water city gates in ancient times.

In the torch relay, one of the torchbearers are run his section with roller skates. This city has been host city of WIC-World Inline Cup, an official world roller skating marathon held three times since 2006, and also 2005 Roller Skating Championships.

The Olympic torch relay will continue its journey in Nantong city on Sunday afternoon, the second leg in Jiangsu provice.

Source: beijing2008.cn 

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