The first torchbearer was Ma Bajin, an equestrian champion at China's National Games of Minorities. He started to ran at 9:21.

(CCTV 06-11-2008 13:36) The Olympic Torch Relay begins its journey at Shangri-La, the last stop in Yunnan Province.

A large ceremony was held in the Shangri-la Sports Center at nine this morning. The first torchbearer was Ma Bajin, an equestrian champion at China's National Games of Minorities. He started to ran at 9:21.

Shangri-La was originally called Diqing. It's modern name comes from a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. The Shangri-La journey will be the first relay staged in the Tibetan region. The relay will be split into two phases.

The first phase will run 4 and a half kilometers through downtown. And the second phase will be through 2 kilometers in the Pudatsuo National Park. The torch will then move to Guizhou province.