China sets the great Olympic flame alight on August 8; the Chinese see their hero make the country's first ever spacewalk on September 25; fly to Taiwan directly from December; even a single day's rebound of the stock market brings relief... these events pass happiness on to 2009 just like the Olympic torch relay...
Lin MiaokeLin Miaoke performing at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games. Her heartwarming performance of Ode won people's hearts with its charm.[Xinhua]
XmasYoung people celebrate Christmas eve on a street in Tianjin, north China, Dec. 24, 2008.[Zhao Jianwei/Xinhua]
weddingQiu Tao and Lei Jia hold their wedding ceremony on June 7. The couple, who were supposed to get married on May 28, decided to postpone their wedding to throw themselves into disaster-relief work in quake-hit areas in their hometown. The 8.0-magnitude quake which jolted south China's Sichuan Province on May 12 left more than 69,000 people dead, 374,000 injured, 18,000 missing and millions homeless.
TaiwanThe first group of Chinese tourists from mainland China in a group photo at Sun Moon Lake of Taiwan on July 6. In June China and Taiwan signed historic agreements to establish regular direct flights and allow more mainland tourists to visit the island. The deal means there will be direct cross-straits flights every weekend instead of only during holiday periods. It is hoped that direct communications will strengthen economic ties even further and deepen understanding between people from across the straits.[Xinhua]
space walkPersonnel involved in China's manned spaceflight mission at the Space Command and Control Center in Beijing, cheer in celebration of China's Shenzhou-7 spacecraft's successful spacewalk mission on Sept. 28, 2008.[Xinhua]
Olympic athleteChina's Olympic athletes. Top, left to right: beach volleyball player Zhang Xi and Xue Chen, gymnast ChenYibing, volleyball player Sun Feifei. Bottom, left to right: Zhang Ning, at the age of 33, won the gold medal in women's singles badminton, trampoline women's champion He Wenna, the first Chinese Gymnastics Trampoline champion Lu Chunlong. Chinese athletes won a record 51 gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, topping the gold medal count as well as unseating the United States.[Xinhua]
Nation flagThe opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games was held in the National Stadium in China's capital at 8:00 p.m. on Aug. 8. Overjoyed Chinese cheered and applauded the Games. [Xinhua]
Li NingThe Olympic flame's four-month-long Journey of Harmony culminated in a spectacular conclusion to the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games with the lighting of the cauldron just after midnight. Former gymnast Li Ning was lifted into the air on wires after receiving the Olympic flame. He then "ran" along the 500-meter-long brim of the Bird's Nest to reach the gigantic cauldron, which he ignited using the flame from his torch. [Xinhua]
FlightTseng Yee-lun (2nd L), a Shenzhen Airlines air hostess from southeast China's Taiwan, gestures as passengers board the plane at Shenzhen Airport in south China's Guangdong Province on Dec. 15. A Shenzhen Airlines flight took off from Shenzhen Airport for Taiwan at 7:20 Beijing Time (2320 GMT Dec. 14), the first since the Chinese mainland and Taiwan started direct air and sea transport and postal services. [Xinhua]
Stock marketTop, left to right: China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange closed at 2,905.01 points on June 25, up 101.99 points, or 3.64 percent. Chinese shares prices had a rare single-day sharp rebound of 9.46 percent on Sept. 19. Bottom, left to right: China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange closed at 4,672.17, up 8.13 percent on Feb. 4. Chinese stocks jumped for a second day on September 22, gaining nearly 8 percent amid surging volume, as investor confidence got a further boost from several developments.[Xinhua]![Defending Olympic champions China will take their title defense to the semifinals of the Women's Volleyball tournament after defeating Russia 25-22, 27-25, 25-19 in the quarterfinal match on Tuesday, August 19. Reaching the gold medal match will not be easy: their opponent in the semis will be Brazil, who has yet to drop a set in six matches in Beijing. [Xinhua]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20081230/000bcdb95f1d0ac3fda54c.jpg){kind=small}
JoyDefending champions China outclassed Russia in a repeat of the Athens 2004 final as they pulled off a convincing 3-0 victory against the same opponents in the quarterfinals of the Olympic women's volleyball tournament on August 19, 2008.[Xinhua]
