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Full turnout in Shanghai for relay

— Photo: Xinhua

Spirit aloft: Zhuang Yong during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay in Shanghai on Friday.

SHANGHAI: After a week spent in mourning the victims of the Sichuan earthquake, the city of Shanghai allowed itself a few cheers on Friday as the Olympic torch finally made its way to China’s most prosperous city following a three-day suspension of the relay.

Celebrations were however noticeably muted as the torch wound its way along a significantly shortened route through the city’s streets. As a mark of respect to the more than 55,000 people who lost their lives in the May 12 earthquake, local authorities on Thursday decided to shorten the distance of the torch route to 200 km and cancel the fireworks display and carnival that had been planned for Friday.

The torch was originally scheduled to reach Shanghai on Tuesday, but the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) suspended the relay for three days after a period of national mourning was declared on Monday for the first time in the country’s history.

The relay resumed its course in the eastern port city of Ningbo on Thursday, before making its way north to Shanghai. Residents turned out in full force here on Friday morning, with tens of thousands gathering amidst tight security in the city’s public places, including the famous People’s Square and the Bund along the Huangpu River.

The relay began at the Shanghai Museum with a minute’s silence observed to remember the devastation of last week. In a short speech, Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng said Shanghai’s 19 million citizens were connected “heart-to-heart” with Sichuan’s victims, and that the passing of the flame would give confidence to those displaced by the quake to rebuild their homes.

As the torch made its way through the city, the hundreds of residents who had lined up along the streets in their replica Olympics shirts cheered loudly, but the memories of Sichuan were not far away. “Go, go China, go, go Sichuan and go, go the Olympics” they chanted, cheering and waving national flags. Rows of donation boxes for earthquake victims were set up all along the relay route, and among the 400 torchbearers were four local residents – a doctor, two soldiers and an IT engineer – who had travelled to Sichuan last week to help in the rescue efforts. They were flown in to Shanghai early on Friday morning, and they will all return to the devastated district on Saturday to carry on their work.

For many, the torch relay presented a time to heal after last week’s mourning. “This week has shown China is becoming stronger,” said Lu Qinxia from Shandong, who watched the relay with her two year old daughter Jiao Zhuangting.

“We believe in China. And we believe our country will host a very successful Olympic games,” she said, reflecting the strong nationalist sentiment that has captured the country in the earthquake’s aftermath. Caught up in the moment, some of the vendors who had set up shop along the relay route started handing out their flags and China tattoos for free.

Friday’s relay ended in Pudong, the crown-jewel of Shanghai’s districts and China’s financial capital.

The two-day Shanghai leg of the relay will conclude on Saturday afternoon in Anting, an automobile hub in Shanghai’s suburbs, and home to the city’s new $ 240 million Formula One race-track.

Rather appropriately, Sichuan will be the last stop before the torch ends its long journey in Beijing.

The torch was scheduled to reach Sichuan on June 12, but the BOCOG decided to postpone its arrival to August 3 to allow reconstruction work in affected areas to continue. The opening ceremony will be held in Beijing on August 8.

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