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BEIJING - TWO Chinese astronauts lit the Olympic torch after a mock count-down at a rocket launch centre in northwest China on Saturday, as the Olympic torch wends its way through each of China's provinces before heading to Beijing for the Olympic Games on Aug 8.
'Taikonauts' Fie Junlong and Nie Haisheng are heroes in China, where the ability to explore space and host the Olympic Games are both seen as signs the country has recovered from the decades of war and revolution that left it desperately poor and closed off from the world.
Chinese state television showed the torch lit from flames on the launch pad, before the taikonauts jogged past rows of cheering flight technicians at the Dongfang Space City, near Jiuquan in the deserts of Gansu province.
'It's a great honuor not just for me, but also for the whole family of cosmonauts and China's space program technology,' Mr Fei told CCTV.
Also on Saturday, Beijing hosted the completion ceremony for the iconic National Stadium, or 'Bird's Nest', the last of 37 venues to be declared ready for the Games. -- REUTERS
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