Olympic Torch Relay Route in Beijing Opens to the Public

The Olympic torch has arrived in the host city Beijing, ready for the final leg of its global relay before the 29th Olympic Games open on Friday.

Following a simple reception at the Beijing Capital International Airport on Tuesday afternoon, the flame flown from Sichuan Province was sent to an undisclosed location until Wednesday morning, when the relay begins from the landmark Forbidden City in the heart of Beijing.

A total of 841 torch bearers will join the three-day relay across the city of 17 million people, including some big names, ranging from China's hero astronaut Yang Liwei to basketball superstar Yao Ming.

Zhang Yimou, the famed film director and chief director of the Games' opening and closing ceremonies, will also bear the scroll-shaped torch.

After being lit at the birthplace of the Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece, on March 24, the 2008 Olympics torch traveled to Beijing on March 31 for a ceremonial kick-off of its global trip.

Under the theme "Journey of Harmony," the relay lasted 129 days and took the torch 137,000 km through six continents, the longest distance of any Olympic torch relay since the tradition started at the 1936 Berlin Games.