The Beijing Olympic torch relay kicked off Friday in Nanchang, the capital city of Jiangxi province, Central China, with a shortened route and simplified ceremonies.

The Beijing Olympic torch relay kicked off Friday in Nanchang, the capital city of Jiangxi province, Central China, with a shortened route and simplified ceremonies.

The relay started at eight am local time on Bayi Square in downtown area, where attendants of the launching ceremony and torchbearers observed one minute of silence to mourn the victims in the massiveearthquake in Sichuan province. Along the 35-kilometer-long route, the torch will pass by Nanchang University, which is the first university up to now in China to get the Olympic torch into the campus. The torch will arrive at Century Square at around 12:30 am in the new urban area, where charity boxes will be set up to collect donations for the earthquake victims.