The 2010 Asian Games torch relay was held from October 12, 2010 through 21 cities in Guangdong province and 2 cities outside the province before the opening ceremony on November 12, 2010. Prior to the relay, a lighting ceremony was held back on October 9, 2010. Some 2,068 torchbearers were expected to carry the torch. The relay leg in Harbin was held in a minor scale due the climatic conditions,as the leg was held inside the main venue of the 1996 Asian Winter Games complex, the Harbin Ice Hockey Rink, while the relay on October 15, 2010 was affected by Typhoon Megi as it was held under the rain.[1] The leg held from November 6–8 acted as a test relay. The flame travelled across China aboard a China Southern Airlines Airbus A330-200 named "Flight Guangzhou 2010" (Registration B-6057), with the airline company being the official partner of the games.[2][3]
Torch
Two torch designs were short-listed in September 2009 for the 2010 Asian Games. "The Tide" (Chinese: 潮流; pinyin: Cháoliú) was chosen by the organisers as the torch of the Games, defeating the "Exploit" design.[4]The Tide weighs 98 g and is 70 cm long, and is tall and straight in shape, while dynamic in terms of image. The secondary official mark of the torch relay was unveiled on July 15, 2010, featuring a silhouette of a running goat holding a torch.[5]
Lighting ceremony
On October 9, 2010, the flame lighting ceremony was held at the Juyongguan pass at the Great Wall of China near Beijing.[6] A 22-year-old Yunnan Arts University student Kang Chen-chen (Chinese: 康辰晨; pinyin: Kāngchénchén) was chosen to light the torch.[7][8] The condition at the time of the lighting was foggy, while she tried to light the torch with a solar mirror with little sunlight. Therefore, it took upwards of 2 minutes before the torch flame could come up.[9] Kang received quite a bit of media attention afterwards. Most of it praised the way she handled the situation.[10] The ceremonial cauldron was then lit-up by president Hu Jintao.[11]
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