As a guest at yesterday's flame lighting ceremony in Greece's Ancient Olympia, Hollywood Chinese starlet Zhang Ziyi said she was "thrilled" the moment the flame flared in the Chinese-designed torch for the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

"I was very excited to see the high priestess light the torch for the first torchbearer, which means the 2008 Olympics held for the first time by the Chinese has begun," the 29-year-old actress said, who was attending the ceremony as a "reporter" signed to Chinese Internet portal sohu.com.


The Beijing-born Zhang Ziyi wore a Chinese Qipao, or cheongsam, the most traditional and typical costume for Chinese women, at the ceremony that attended by the Mayor of Olympia, the International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge and Liu Qi, the president of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee near the Temple of Hera in Ancient Olympia at 11am (5pm Beijing time) yesterday.

The white Qipao, designed by Chinese designer Guo Pei for the ceremony, was meant to express traditional culture with embroideries of Chinese dragons, running cranes and white clouds in the front, Zhang said.

The celestial Chinese dragon is comparable as the symbol of the Chinese race itself and is an embodiment of power and strength in China. Cranes running through floating clouds are symbols of long life in Chinese culture.

Zhang Ziyi, who is among the torchbearers in the torch relay's Beijing section, said she would do some exercises to "get fully prepared" for her part in the relay.

Zhang Ziyi got her first role in Zhang Yimou's The Road Home and gained world fame when she appeared in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Zhang Ziyi will go with Sohu's reporting team to cover the 1,528-kilometer torch relay journey that involves 645 runners in Greece.

source-asianbite