An official ceremony for the departure of IOC Olympic Museum's rare collections tour to China was held in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Tuesday.

Olympic collections and souvenirs get packed at Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Tuesday July 17,2007.

Some 700 pieces of Olympics memorabilia and souvenirs are expected to be on show on August 8th in Beijing's International Exhibition Centre, the first leg of the collections China tour.

The tour is organized by the International Olympic Committee, China's Olympic Committee and Beijing's Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Director General of IOC, Urs Lacotte (L) hands a key symbol of the collection to Liu Qingzao, chief planner of the tour and professor from Shanghai University of Sport, in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Tuesday July 17, 2007.

(CRI.cn July 19, 2007)