Place and Time

Nursultan Nazarbayev(L), president of Kazakhstan and the first torchbearer of the country, kindles the torch of the next torchbearer during the Olympic torch relay in Almaty, Kazakhstan, April 2, 2008.

With the sacred flame for the Beijing Olympic Games on board, the specially chartered Air China plane arrived in Almaty, Kazakhstan at 1:10 p.m. local time.

Jiang Xiaoyu, Executive Vice President of BOCOG, disembarked with the flame, showing the lantern to the crowd. Two members of the flame's escort team handed the flame over to representatives of the city.

Among those on hand to greet the flame were Chinese ambassador to Kazakhstan Zhang Xiyun, various Kazakhstan officials and overseas Chinese living in Kazakhstan. A brief but warm welcoming ceremony was held at the airport and flowers were presented to team members.