Lights, cameras, flags, flowers, drums and plenty of hoorays and action. The start of the final leg of the Olympic torch relay yesterday had everything and more.

On Tian'anmen Square, the blue uniforms of security staff and volunteers and the varied shades of red, yellow, green, gray and black combined into a kaleidoscope of joy and hope.

Individual identities did not matter on a day of the collective. There was no Ji or Jin, no Liu or Lucy.