The 2008 Beijing Olympic torch relay started at the International Conference Center in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou Wednesday morning.

The Guangzhou relay covered 40 kilometers with 208 torchbearers amid cheers and jubilance from thousands of local supporters.

The relay started in Guangzhou International Convention Center at 8:10 am local time, passing Hill Top Park, Yuntai Garden, Guangzhou Arts Museum, Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum, Chen Ancestral Temple, Beijing Road, Haiyin Park, Consulate District Square and reached the celebration site Guangzhou Tianhe Sports Complex at 6:20 pm local time.

Thousands of local residents welcomed warmly the Olympic flame during the Beijing Olympic torch relay in Guangzhou. They waved Olympic flags and Chinese flag, waiting for Olympic torch relay. And folk artists performed Chinese traditional lion and dragon dancing from set-off point. Outside the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum, a thousand of local residents practiced shadowboxing in style, welcoming the arrival of Olympic flame.

Guangzhou-born Yang Jinghui was the first torchbearer. Yang won the gold medal in the synchronized 10 meters platform diving competition together with Tian Liang in the 2004 Summer Olympics.

"It's a great honor for me to be selected as the first runner," said 24-year-old Yang. "I am an athlete, a student and a volunteer, so I can represent all three kinds of people."

                                                                                                                                   Edited by Ava