The Olympic Flame Collecting Ceremony

 Xiamen Olympic Museum, would like to introduce the history of the Olympic Games - the lighting of the Olympic flame, so that you can know more about the Olympic Games and be closer to Olympics .

 The Olympic flame was usually lit in front of the Hera temple in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the games, months before the games begin. The only way to collect the Olympic flame was by concentrating the sun's rays in the center of a concave mirror and generating a high temperature to ignite the flame. The whole process was grand and solemn. No crowd gathered. After the flame was lit, the flame was placed in an ancient brazier and took to the altar of the ancient Olympic stadium by the high priestess. The flame was displayed to the people waiting there, and the torch was lit in the hands of the first torch bearer. Then the Olympic torch begn its journey to the Olympic host city.

 To maintain the purity of the Olympic flame, only the flame collected from the Olympic Games can be used during the relay and the flame cannot be mixed with any other symbolic flame. Past Olympic host cities will welcome the flame at the Panathenian stadium in Greece after its journey across the country, where the Olympic flame would be put into several kindling lamps. According to the requirements of the international Olympic Committee (IOC), the torch flame can not be put out in the transit process from Olympia to the host city. Once the torch extinguished, it must be ignited by special escorts with flame in the kindling lamps, to ensure that the main torch at the opening ceremony is lit by a flame from Olympia .

 In Olympia, the site of the ancient Olympic Games, the flame burnt quietly in a city hall in front of the altar of the goddess Hestia. The flame here was also collected by using concave mirrors to gather sunlight, and was used as a spark to light other sacred sites.

 In contrast to the modern Olympic torch relay, the ancient panhellenic games never had a torch relay or a torch race. But before the games began, heralds with olive rings ran from city to city telling each other exactly when the games would begin. They invited citizens of the cities to Olympia and proclaimed the beginning of a "holy truce."