A Chinese father and his 16-year-old son are on the short list for the Olympic torchbearers next year.
Ren Erlin (R) and his son Ren Panpan are shown on the cover of the family's 2005 book, recounting their adventures hiking along the Great Wall. [cctv.com] |
The duo are among the 1,188 torchbearers and escort runners selected in mid October by Olympic sponsor Coca Cola via public voting through iCoke.com. The final list will be decided in early 2008, upon approval by the Being Olympic Committee.
China first took notice of the father Ren Erlin, a professional photographer, in 2003 when he and his son have successfully hiked a major portion of the Great Wall. The man-made construction extends more than 6,000 km through nine provinces across North China.
Ten-years-old Ren Panpan, who hikes along a path during his family's trek along the Great Wall, is shown in the family's 2005 book.[cctv.com] |
On July 15, 2001, two days after then President of the International Olympic Committee Antonio Samaranch announced that Beijing won the 2008 Summer Olympic Games bid, Ren took his 10-year-old son Panpan to trek on the Great Wall for the first time.
They set off from Shanhaiguan in Bohai Bay, carrying a 20-mile-long scroll with signatures on it, a red banner that read “Love China, Maintain the Great Wall,” as well as a donation box asking people to contribute one yuan for upkeep of the Wall.
In the following two summers, Ren’s wife Yin Xianghua participated in the Great Wall hike to finish covering the remaining kilometers with her husband and son. Along the way, the family not only collected donations, but also raised the public’s awareness of preserving China's cultural heritage.
In June this year, the trio was nominated to be Olympic torchbearers in a nomination campaign launched by Coca Cola across the country. Both the father and the son easily advanced to be in the short list.
