A brief launch ceremony for the Olympic torch relay was held at Shanghai Museum at 8am today with a minute of silence to mourn victims of the earthquake in Sichuan Province.

Planned celebrations were called off and instead, donation boxes were placed at the site. Officials that addressed the crowd expressed their condolences for the earthquake victims.

Shanghai Party chief Yu Zhengsheng (right) hands the Olympic torch to Zhuang Yong, the first torchbearer in the Shanghai leg of the torch relay, this morning near Shanghai Museum at People's Square.

Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng welcomed the arrival of the Olympic Flame on behalf of the city's 19 million people. He said Shanghai people are connected "heart to heart" with quake victims and that the Olympic flame passes on the spirit of braveness and perseverance.

The flame arrived about 8:10am, after Han's speech.

Shanghai Party Secretary Yu Zhengsheng took the flame from an official with the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee. The moment triggered cheers from the enthusiastic crowd.

Former Olympic gold medalist Zhuang Yong, a swimmer, became the city's first torchbearer. Yu handed the torch to the Shanghai native and hundreds of pigeons were released into the sunny sky when Zhuang took her first step, formally ending the ceremony.

Excited people lined streets along the relay route and showed their Olympic spirit by waving Chinese flags. A sea of red could be seen as the flags fluttered and people had their faces painted with the "Love China" logo. Young people formed small groups and sang patriotic songs.

"I believe this only happens once in a thousand years. I'm so excited and will remember this moment for the rest of my life," said a woman, 50, surnamed Zhu, who is an official with the Dingxing Neighborhood Committee on Nanjing Road. She said she arrived very early with some other neighbors. "Some people spent the night at the square so they would not miss this great moment."