There were cheers, and there was applause. The Olympic torch climbed the Great Wall Thursday, the last day of China's seven-year wait.The red Chinese national flag, with the five yellow stars, fluttered everywhere, welcoming one and all to the Olympic Games.

Photo taken at about the zero hour on Aug. 8 shows the National Stadium, namely the Bird's Nest, in Beijing, China, 20-hour countdown to the opening ceremony of the Olympics. The opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be held in the Bird's Nest at 8 p.m. on Aug. 8. [Xinhua]

Beijing was awash in colors, giving it the look of a grand festival on the eve of the Games' opening ceremony. But this, as many people said, was once-in-a-lifetime festival. The sights and sounds were varied, carnival-like all the same, with restaurants and cabbies doing brisk business.

The capital airport saw its busiest day Thursday, handling more than 300 Olympic-related flights that carried VIP guests, athletes and sports officials.

More than 60 heads of state, or government, including US President George W. Bush, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, reached Beijing yesterday.

Back in the heart of the city, President Hu Jintao went through one of his busiest days, meeting with 11 foreign leaders in the Great Hall of the People. By Monday, he would have met with 70 leaders of different countries, Bush, Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda being among them.

Just outside the Great Hall of the People, the crowd was thin on Tian'anmen Square - perhaps because most of the tourists had opted for the Great Wall or the Olympic venues. The Forbidden City seemed to maintain its usual attraction, though.

Traffic was light on the roads, and the special arrangements for the Games, including the Olympic lanes, were working fine.

The weather forecast for today was a bit of concern, however. The Beijing Meteorological Bureau forecast said Aug 8 would be cloudy with possibility of rain. But it did not specify when a shower could be expected.

At the Great Wall, a brief ceremony was held at the foot of the Badaling section before the first torchbearer and famous test pilot, Li Zhonghua, began his climb at 7:10 am. "If you fail to reach the Great Wall, you are not a man," he said, quoting Mao Zedong, after completing his stretch of about 50 m.

He was followed by 17 others who carried the torch on its 900-m stretch, 15-minute journey on the wall. After passing through two beacon towers, last runner Wang Ning climbed up to the Beisi Tower, and held aloft the sacred flame to the deafening applause of the crowd below.

From there, the torch traveled to the Temple of Earth on the penultimate day of its relay.

With less than one day to go for the Games, public excitement has reached fever pitch. The thrill is not confined to only people with a ticket to the opening ceremony. The not-so-lucky ones, too, are equally in the grip of an unknown sensation.

A couple have flown in from Hawaii. Though ethnic Chinese, they are fourth-generation Americans. But they have just one ticket between them for the opening ceremony. The husband, however, has agreed to let wife Julie Chiu Au attend it.

Though this will be their third Games, Chiu is desperate to see what China will come up with at the gala. She is proud of everything China has achieved in such a short time. Of special interest to her are Beijing's new buildings and architecture.

(China Daily August 8, 2008)