Sunday June 1 in Yichang was eagerly awaited by all; teachers, students and another million or so around town. The Friday before, Beth and I were interviewed by the local press to allow the locals to share our feelings for this great event. Beth a teacher from the U.S. told how this was such a memory to hold for years and that she remembered having a day off from school when she was a youngster. My memory was only back to 2000 with the games in Sydney. The torch went pass our front door in Echuca with the runners coming from Bendigo and Rochester. The pride and enthusiasm of the spectators is still something I remember as well as the crowd size was a little down on the million around here. In fact down about 985,000 or so. Back to the Sunday morning, we arose early looked for a taxi - he said he could not get near the runners. So we opted for the bus; it struggled up the hill as usual and stopped a kilometer or so short of our destination. We all set off to walk through the tunnel for the last leg. Finally we arrived and the sight of the crowd as we stumbled out of the darkness was amazing. Police and Army personnel had cordoned off the cross roads and barriers were everywhere. We had a great view of the street and could see up to the next cross-roads. Took a number of shots of the masses and they in turn took shots of us - a couple of foreigners getting involved in a Chinese festival. Another ten minutes wait and the Army and Police suddenly dispersed - the Torch relay was over. It had passed this spot while we were walking in the tunnel. We continued on into Yiling Square with the crowd all in a happy mood taking more shots with my new canon. A great day out but a bit like finding the last two pages missing from a mystery novel - not very fulfilling.
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