'Bird's Nest' chief designer feels honored to witness torch handover

　　(ATHENS, March 29) -- Li Xinggang, chief designer for the National Aquatics Center, or "Bird's Nest," arrived in Athens on Saturday at the invitation of BOCOG to attend the handover ceremony for the Beijing Olympic Torch at Panathenaikon Stadium on March 30.

　　He and other outstanding Chinese citizens were selected previously by Lenovo to be the torchbearers for the torch relay in Athens on March 30. The sacred flame will be relayed in part by these Chinese celebrities for an hour in the city, and then the torch will be handed over to China ceremoniously by officials on the Athens side.

　　Li feels very honored to be able to witness the torch handover ceremony in Athens. The opportunity reminded him of the time he spent here ten years ago as an overseas student in France. To represent the hundreds of millions of people involved in the construction of the Beijing Olympic venues, Li wished he could run the nearest relay leg to the handover ceremony.

　　"The most meaningful experience in my life," he told the reporter, would be to witness the handing over of the Olympic Flame in the very birthplace of the Olympics -- Panathenaikon Stadium �C and to see the Flame in his own "Bird's Nest".

　　To fulfill the sacred duty as a torchbearer in his best shape, Li said he exercised every day one week ahead of the torch relay at home.