Hangzhou Asian Games | What You Don't Know about the Asian Games: Where did the torchbearer of the Hangzhou Asian Games come from? Hangzhou | Asian Games | Asian Games

On September 12th, the torch of the Hangzhou Asian Games was passed on in Ningbo. Starting from Hangzhou on the 8th, following the relay, there are many familiar athletes holding the torch, such as Luo Xuejuan, Wang Shuang, Yang Qian, etc., more of whom are unfamiliar but filled with happy and joyful faces.

Du Zuofeng, Deputy Commander of the Torch Relay Command Center of the Hangzhou Asian Games, introduced that the selection of torchbearers is mainly aimed at the Asian Olympic Council, other Asian National Olympic Committees, the Chinese Olympic Committee, the Hangzhou Asian Organizing Committee, and various cities within Zhejiang Province. The selection is mainly through recommendation. Among them, 30 torchbearers were selected by drawing lots through the online "Striving to be the Torchbearers of the Asian Games" theme activity.

On September 12th, torchbearer Zhao Jing participated in the torch relay. On that day, the torch of the Hangzhou Asian Games was passed through Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Zongzhi

More than 2000 torchbearers participated in the torch relay. They started from Hangzhou and passed on successively in Huzhou, Jiaxing, Shaoxing, Ningbo, Zhoushan, Taizhou, Wenzhou, Lishui, Jinhua, and Quzhou. They returned to Hangzhou on the 20th to complete their final relay stop. Among them, the youngest is 14 years old, the oldest is 84 years old, with 732 women, 1219 representatives from grassroots frontline, 1069 representatives from advanced model figures, 275 representatives from sports workers, and a certain number of representatives from ethnic minorities, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan compatriots, as well as representatives from people with disabilities.

According to the legend of torchbearers, the story unfolds slowly.

Hangzhou Olympic swimming champion Luo Xuejuan was the first torchbearer of the Hangzhou Asian Games. With cheers and gazes, Zhang Yong took over her relay. As a technology partner of the Hangzhou Asian Games, Alibaba Group, where Zhang Yong works, has promoted the application of multiple intelligent technologies in the Hangzhou Asian Games and supported it to become the first Asian Games to be broadcast on the cloud.

On September 8th, torchbearer Luo Xuejuan participated in the torch relay. On that day, the torch relay of the Hangzhou Asian Games was launched at the Yongjin Park Square in West Lake, Hangzhou. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhai Jianlan

As one of the torchbearers at the Huzhou Station on the 9th, Deng Chengmin, Secretary of the Party Committee and General Principal of Xinfeng Experimental Primary School Education Group, hopes that children can feel the spirit of hard work, progress, unity and cooperation during the torch relay. For the past decade, Xinfeng Experimental Primary School has carried out sunshine break activities, including tennis, football, basketball, taekwondo, baseball, archery, checkers, chess... Children can try 17 sports to find their interests.

On the 10th at Jiaxing Station, Yuan Jing, a tour guide at the Nanhu Revolution Memorial Hall, received the torch in front of the hall. As she explained more than 20 years of revolutionary stories, she added an honor and pride as a torchbearer for the Asian Games. Yuan Jing also serves as an off campus counselor and elective course lecturer for multiple primary and secondary schools in Jiaxing City, actively conducting themed lectures such as "The Red Boat Sails into the Chinese Dream", "Revolutionary Spirit Memories, National Spirit Generations", and "The Story of the Red Boat", guiding children to understand their original aspirations and beliefs.

On September 10th, torchbearer Yuan Jing participated in the torch relay. On that day, the torch of the Hangzhou Asian Games was passed on in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province. Photo by Sun Fei, journalist from Xinhua News Agency

On the 11th in Shaoxing, Dong Sijiao, who is over 80 years old, ran through the crowd with colorful nails painted with the theme of the Asian Games, holding high the "firewood". Dong Sijiao and a group of retired music enthusiasts with an average age of over 70 formed an elderly "rock band". In order to welcome the Asian Games, they adapted their original song "Song of Blue Vest" into the Asian Games version "Put on My Blue Vest" and sang it with their voices.

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The heat of reality continues to spread, and the enthusiasm online is also growing stronger. Du Zuofeng stated that in the digital age, everyone can become a torchbearer, and this year's Hangzhou Asian Games is expected to create the largest scale, most projects, and widest coverage of the Asian Games torch relay.

After the torch collection ceremony for the Asian Games on June 15th, the online torch relay event for the Hangzhou Asian Games, known as "Passing on Fireworks", was launched simultaneously on the "Intelligent Asian Games One Stop" platform. From its launch to the ongoing stage of the online torch relay, the number of digital torchbearers has reached over 96 million. The online torch relay simulates the group photo process of torchbearers handing over in real life. Participants can receive digital group photos with other users for each relay, capturing unforgettable moments with unfamiliar friends. On the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games on September 23, the online "digital ignition" will also be launched simultaneously, and the global Asian Games digital torchbearers will jointly "light" the Asian Games torch in the digital world.

Where do the torchbearers of the Hangzhou Asian Games come from? You and I are both.