The Olympic torch relay ended on Tuesday in Chengdu, capital of the quake-battered Sichuan Province, the last leg of its tour outside the host city Beijing.

The first torchbearer Zhang Shan displays the torch during the Torch Relay in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, on August 5, 2008. [BOCOG]

The Chengdu leg of the torch relay began at 8:10 a.m. on Tuesday, 85 days after an 8.0-magnitude earthquake jolted the southwestern province and killed nearly 70,000 people there.

Tens of thousands of people looked on as former Olympic gold medalist Zhang Shan took over the torch from the provincial Communist Party chief Liu Qibao to become the first of all 315 torchbearers along the 13.2-kilometer relay route.

The first torchbearer Zhang Shan runs with the Olympic torch in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, August 5.  [BOCOG]

Zhang claimed gold in the skeet event at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 but failed to enter the Beijing Games after losing to her teammate Wei Ning in the qualification round. Wei, 26, was runner-up in the Athens Games of 2004.

"If the Beijing Games were an endpoint in my own Olympic career, then I hope they would be the starting point for the younger people," said Zhang, 40.

Local residents welcome the Olympic flame with cheers in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, August 5. [BOCOG]

"Go, go, China; Arise, Sichuan" were heard from the crowd of onlookers, many of whom still need time to heal the trauma brought by the earthquake of May 12.