Cut to three days because of concerns over the coronavirus, the relay began at Olympic Foreign Park, in Beijing, with speedskater Luo Zhihuan carrying the Torch, after it was lit ny Vice Premier Han Zheng in a cauldron shaped like the ritual container zun. Zhihaun, now 81, was China's first winter sports world champion, winning gold at the 1963 World Speed Skating Championship.

The Relay course calls for torchbearers to carry the Torch through downtown Beijing and then into the other two Olympic zones, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou. The final leg of the Relay will transport the Torch to the Bird's Nest, the venue for the Opening Ceremonies, which take place on Friday.

Other well-known torchbearers were to be basketball star Yao Ming, Chinese Astronaut Corps captain Jing Haipeng, and movie director Zhang Yimou (who is also the director of the Opening Ceremonies, as he was in 2008 for the Beijing Summer Games).

The XXIV Olympic Winter Games will run Feb. 4–20. Beijing National Stadium will be the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies. Events will take place in Beijing and in and near other neighboring towns.

Beijing is the first city to be host for both Summer and Winter Olympics. The Summer Games were there in 2008.