Flame for Asian Games is lit at Liangzhu cultural site in Hangzhou. Photo: Courtesy of the Hangzhou 2022 organizing committee

The flame for the Asian Games was ignited at the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu in Hangzhou on Thursday, which marks the beginning of the 100-day countdown to the intracontinental multi-sport event that is scheduled to be held in the city from September 23 to October 8.

Nineteen flame collectors, dressed in white, strolled up the steps before one of them lit a torch from the rays of the sun using a concave mirror. The outline of the mirror, designed like a round circular jade known as a bi, symbolizes the sun's rays.

The flame collector presented the torch to Yi Lianhong, secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, who ignited the cauldron, whose design was inspired by a long tubular square jade known as a cong, which when paired with the bi is the earliest known cosmological model in Chinese civilization.

Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2019, the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu is a sacred place that has born witness to over 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. 

The torch relay will start at the West Lake, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the city, in mid-September. It will be relayed across 11 cities in East China's Zhejiang Province. 

Meanwhile, a "digital torchbearer" campaign will be held online for fans who are unable to attend the torch relay events. Over 21 million people have participated in a virtual torch relay as digital torchbearers through online platforms, organizers said. 

Global Times