Farmer's 'Long March' to support China's Winter Olympic bid

A 66-year-old farmer is preparing for his "Long March" to Beijing, which he will start in January to support China's bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

Ni Yusheng, a torchbearer for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, will leave Taiyuan City, capital of north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 1, to Beijing via Zhangjiakou on foot, he told Xinhua on Monday.

The over-700 kilometer march is expected to take more than 50 days.

He said he wanted the walk to represent the start of "a war" on smog as well as showing his support of Beijing and Zhangjiakou's joint bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

Ni continued that after hearing news of the bid, he decided to take action to encourage society to pay more attention to environmental issues.

"Smog poses a risk to people's health and will affect China's Winter Olympic bid," he said, while recalling the blue skies of his childhood.

This is not Ni's first "Long March". Back in 2000, Ni and another five farmers made the arduous journey to Beijing on donkey-drawn carts, singing Shanxi folk songs and educating the public on the Olympics along the way. After a journey of over 20 days, they arrived in the capital.

However, as donkeys are not allowed to enter Beijing, Ni's group walked the final leg to meet the 2008 Olympic Games bid committee.

"I just wanted to tell them farmers supported Beijing's bid," Ni said.

Pollution is the biggest problem for Beijing's Winter Olympic bid. Ni's behavior could foster concern for the environment among the public and manifest the true Olympic spirit, said Cen Chuanli, deputy head of the Torchbearer Alliance for the Beijing Olympic Games.