Torch fires up Olympic co-host city -- china.org.cn

Wang Santang, secratary of the Qinhuangdao CPC Committee, lit the cauldron at Olympic Avenue Park at 10:37 a.m., bringing the Qinhuangdao leg of the Olympic Torch Relay to an end.

Last torchbearer Wang Santang lights the cauldron during the torch relay in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province on July 30, 2008.

BOCOG

Last torchbearer Wang Santang lights the cauldron during the torch relay in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province on July 30, 2008.

Xi Enting, two-time Table Tennis world champion and the first torchbearer in this leg of the relay, started the event at 8:12 a.m. The seven kilometer route was run by 256 torchbearers.

Xi was born on March 3, 1946. He was a member of the national team from 1965 to 1975, during which he won the Table Tennis World Championships twice. From 1976 to 1991, he was coach of the Chinese national team and of several Olympic and world champions, such as Chen Longcan and Wei Qingguang.

Torchbearer Ji Shaolin kisses statue of Juan Antonio Samaranch during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay in Qinhuangdao, a co-host city of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in north China's Hebei Province, July 30, 2008.

Xinhua

Torchbearer Ji Shaolin kisses statue of Juan Antonio Samaranch during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay in Qinhuangdao, a co-host city of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in north China's Hebei Province, July 30, 2008.

Torchbearer Ren Hanhua (back) poses with the next torchbearer Liu Na during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay in Qinhuangdao, a co-host city of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in north China's Hebei Province, July 30, 2008.

Xinhua

Torchbearer Ren Hanhua (back) poses with the next torchbearer Liu Na during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay in Qinhuangdao, a co-host city of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in north China's Hebei Province, July 30, 2008.

The city of Tangshang will host the Olympic torch on Thursday.

(BOCOG July 30, 2008)