The design of the torch was submitted by a team of designers from the Chinese computer company, Lenovo. Our school, the International School of Beijing, even got the honor of having one of the designers, Ms. Michelle Qiu, come and talk about its design.  One of my classmates' mom (who was an Olympic gold medalist for the Chinese diving team) got to run with a lit torch for our school's opening ceremony.

The design on the torch was based on white clouds and on a red background shaped like a Chinese scroll. The ancient Chinese wrote on paper and silk scrolls.  The cloud design represents the vast Chinese culture. The color red in Chinese means good luck or good fortune. By putting these to designs together, they show the world about Chinese culture. The name of the torch is the "Cloud of Promise."

Each torch bearer in the relay gets to keep his/her Olympic torch. One of my dad's friends, Mr. Jim Zimmerman, got to run in the torch relay. He invited me over to see his torch. I got to see it, hold it, and hear about the torch and take pictures with it.

The actual torch is quite easy to hold as it is designed to fit into your hand nicely. Then he told me how they would pop open the torch with a key to remove the propane container inside the torch so that after you had finished running with the torch, you wouldn't be able to re-light it again.

So let's hope this torch leads many athletes to their "Cloud of Promise" of a gold medal at these Olympics!

Stay tuned for  Mascots!