There Goes The Torch

When we arrived on Sunday our guide Mary told us that the Olympic torch relay would be coming through town on Friday. Better still, they would be passing right in front of our hotel!

Monday was the first practice run. The military and police were out in full force, the road was closed down and they ran the full Nanchang route. Thanks to the practice we planned on an 8:35am pass-by of our hotel.

Thursday was the second practice run. No military, but the police were here. Again roads closed and this time locals were en mass at the barricade next to the entrance to our hotel, dressed in the pro-Olympic tshirts, waving flags and chanting. So authentic was this practice that we thought that perhaps the earthquake had disrupted the route and they were going to be in town a day earlier. Nope. Just another practice.

Last night saw our hotel lobby filled with

OK Sorry to break the story flow, but this chick is SO my daughter! As I've been sitting here typing, she's been using her new markers, drawing lovely pictures. Then she grabs her new barbie-ish doll in one hand and a marker in the other . . . visions of a very sad Mrs. Beasley doll flashed in my head! Fortunately she just looked at me and laughed and then put down the inky weapon, leaving the doll unscathed. Whew. For now.

Anyway, apparently our hotel is where all of the torch officials and runners are staying, so the lobby was filled with new guests and loads of official luggage with torch tags on them. Everywhere we walked yesterday people were adorning their cars, homes, businesses, themselves with Olympic and China flags. Even the ramshackle high rise (never completed) building next to our hotel was given a banner proclaiming it as the soon to be finished (2008-don't see it happening) Crown Residence. I'm expecting that the banner will be down tomorrow. So much pride! So much excitement, especially for this city, everyone here is so proud to be Chinese.

This morning everyone was just buzzing in the hotel. Although we have a unobstructed view from our room, we really wanted to carve out a spot on the street to watch the torch pass. The hotel dining room has a tv screen on one wall, so we watched the torch ceremony begin at Ba Yi Square at 8am while eating breakfast. We watched as the first runner left the stage and began his small portion of today's relay. Big smiles and waving happily to the crowd, each runner had their minute of Olympic glory working their way through the streets of Nanchang.

We headed outside at about 8:20 and found a great spot outside our hotel. The way the police had blocked off the street, only hotel guests could take advantage of the raised parking/entrance area of the hotel.

At about 8:40 various caravan vehicles sped by, followed by military trucks, police cars and a couple of ambulances. Then several official torch relay vans went by, filled with runners, one of them holding a torch out the window. OK! Any minute now we should see the runner!! Then the police start folding up the barricades. They pack up, get into formation and start to leave. Everyone looks confused (not just us Westerners). Apparently the relay was taking too much time and was behind schedule. The torch we saw hanging out of the bus window was THE torch. The torch had already passed.

I know how disappointed I felt that we didn't get a chance to cheer for the runner. Watch them run past. But I'm sure my disappointment doesn't begin to match all the locals that had been crowding up against the barricade since at least 7am when we woke up and first looked out the window. So much pride and excitement and preparation.And such a let down.