Olympic torch begins its journey around China

You've probably been on the edge of your seat waiting for the latest Olympic torch relay news so here it is. The beleagured sacred flame is making its way through Hong Kong today at the start of its tour of China following a few, shall we say, hiccups during the international relay. Despite the rain, the torch route has been mostly been lined with supporters throughout, many hoping to catch a glimpse of the flame as it is carried by a host of Hong Kong stars, such as Andy Lau. The International Herald Tribune claims that many of these supporters have come across from the mainland (citing their use of Mandarin rather than Cantonese).

The Special Administrative Region has barred several pro-Tibetan protesters from entering and, though she was questioned by immigration officials, Mia Farrow (who did make it in) has promised to be good. Nevertheless, there have been a few scuffles according to the IHT:

"One angry mob harrassed a small group of pro-democracy supporters, yelling at them, "Do you think this is Paris?" It was a reference to the French leg of the relay that was disrupted by protests.
Another protester holding a Tibetan flag was carried into a police van after she was threatened by 30 torch supporters who pushed and shoved a dozen officers protecting her."

The torch will travel across China in the next 3 months, with stops scheduled in Lhasa and Urumqi to the west and a series of cities in the central and eastern regions of the country, before making its way to Beijing for the start of the Games in August. The BBC provides us with a rather handy map of the relay route and will be updating it from each city as the flame progresses. We can look forward to the torch gracing the streets of Shanghai on 20th May.

If you're already sick of reading about the Olympic flame then maybe this blog post (in Chinese) from Chinese model 戴菲菲 (Dai Fei Fei) will reignite your interest. Praise be to Danwei for pointing us in the direction of her write-up (including pictures) of a recent FHM photoshoot that celebrated the magazine's 4th anniversary in China by taking on an Olympic theme. It certainly brings a little levity to the situation.

Video from Associated Press