Asian Games flame ceremony held at China’s Great Wall

Beijing: The flame for next month’s Asian Games, to be held in the Chinese city Guangzhou, was lit in an Olympic style ceremony at the historic Great Wall here on Saturday.

The flame was ignited in a traditional sun-ray ceremony at the Juyongguan pass of the Great Wall and was telecast live all over the country. The sun shone just enough over the Wall for Kang Chenchen, a 22-year-old student from Yunnan Arts University, to focus its rays on a silver torch using a concave mirror. In an otherwise immaculate ceremony, there were some anxious moments for organisers as the torch carried by a woman attired in traditional Greek Olympic dress took longer time to light than expected.The flame will be lit at the Nov 12-27 Guangzhou Asian Games, following a one-month torch relay in Beijing, Harbin, Changchun, Haiyang and 21 cities of the Guangdong province, Chinese official media reported.About 8000 athletes and officials are expected to take part in the Games, the facilities for which have already been handed over to the Games organisers. PTI