April: Olympic flame travels through five continents, Phase 3 of Olympic ticketing begins

On April 1, the Olympic flame will arrive in Istanbul from Beijing, making its second stop and writing the first page in the book of "harmony" between East and West. Spanning over Asia and Europe, Istanbul serves as an important ideological and cultural convergence center between the two continents.

Starting from Saint Petersburg, the torch will travel to San Francisco and Buenos Aires in the Americas via London and Paris. London, the host city of the 1948 Olympic Games, will play host again in the 2012 Olympic Games, while Paris is the first city in the world to host two editions of the Olympic Games thus far (1900 and 1924).

San Francisco on the Pacific bank of North America is a multicultural city, where the Roman-style "Arts Palace," Chinatown's dragon and phoenix-carved gates, Japanese five-tier pagodas and many other styles of buildings coexist.

Upon hearing the name Buenos Aires, the largest city in South America, sports fans usually feel excitement. The "Football King," Diego Maradona, was born here and the Pampas team gained world exposure from this platform.

The torch's next stop is Dar es Salaam, the quiet and scenic port city of Tanzania in East Africa.

The route along Muscat, Istanbul, Mumbai, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta is full of Asian traditions and colorful landscapes: Gulf scenery, the mysterious Elephant Cave, Islamic mosques, Buddhist temples, and many other styles of buildings feature the cultured diversity, integrity and harmony of the various people along the route.

In its journey to the East Asian city of Nagano, the torch will stop in the Oceanic city of Canberra. As an "Oceanic Garden," Canberra attracts the world's attention because of its landscape, which highlights the harmony between humanity and nature.

Returning back to Asia, the torch will pass through Nagano and Seoul. In 1988, the Olympic flame was lit on the main cauldron of the Seoul Olympic Games,and the melodic "Arirang" song brought the best blessings from Asia to other parts of the world. In 1998, the world's attention focused again on Asia to follow up the Nagano Olympic Winter Games.

From beautiful Pyongyang to Ho Chi Minh City, the Olympic torch will witness different customs and scenes of Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia.

From April 2 to 29, the Olympic flame will pass through five continents to shine its brightness and purity into every corner of the globe.

According to the schedule of the BOCOG Ticketing Center published online, BOCOG will launch the third phase of the Olympic ticketing program, putting the residual tickets from phases one and two on sale.

There will be more "Good Luck Beijing" sport events in April: the Olympic Games Synchronized Swimming Qualification Tournament (April 16-20) at the National Aquatics Center; FIE World Championships (April 18-20) at the Fencing Hall of the National Convention Center; the IAAF Walking Challenge (April 18-19) at the Olympic Green; the "Good Luck Beijing" 2008 Marathon (April 20); the 2008 Women's Basketball International Invitational Tournament (April 19-26) at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium; the ISSF Beijing World Cup 2008 (10-21) at the Beijing Shooting Range Hall; and the China Club Volleyball Tournament (April 16-21) at the Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium. These events will stimulate the passion of Beijing fans for the Olympics, less than four months away.

April 30 marks the 100-day countdown to the Beijing Olympics. The winners of the campaign for the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic songs are scheduled to be unveiled on that day.