The theme of the relay is "Journey of Harmony".

The theme embodies the Olympic ideal of 'placing sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity'. 'Harmony' boasts strong Chinese characteristics, and expresses the traditional Chinese philosophy in pursuit of a balance between man and nature, among people and between man's body and soul. It also supports Chinese people's wish of building a harmonious society of enduring peace and common prosperity.

The slogan of the relay is "Light the Passion Share the Dream".

The slogan is highly expressive of the theme and distinctive in sentence structure. "Light the passion" captures the spirit of Olympic Torch Relay and is inspiring. "Share the Dream" falls within Olympic language terminology and correlates with the staging concepts of the Beijing Olympic Games and its "One World One Dream" slogan. The slogan is simple, meaningful and easy to remember, read and share.

The Logo of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay owes much of its inspiration to the traditional concept of "fire phoenix", and presents the image of two runners holding the Olympic Flame high. As ancient Chinese legend has it, phoenix is the king of all birds, and symbolizes good fortune, eternity, nobility and happiness. The use of the phoenix image in the Torch Relay logo conveys the idea that the Torch Relay will send the best wishes from the Beijing Olympic Games to people all over China and the rest of the world.

The torch relay graphic is one of the key image elements for the torch relay of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The torch relay graphic together with the torch relay symbol, torch relay colours, torch relay fonts,and torch relay slogan, forms the basic image of the torch relay of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. These elements will be applied in the torch relay image & look designs, including the torch relay uniforms, torch relay convoy, torch relay publications and the city landscape design of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. They will create a unique visual image for the torch relay of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, spread Chinese culture and the torch relay theme, and build an excellent environment for the torch relay. The elements will create a celebrative atmosphere thoughout the cities which the relay will pass, promote the sanctity of the Olympic flame, encourage Torchbearers and Escorts Runners, enhance people's experience of the torch relay, and to provide a visual setting for the recording and broadcasting or the torch relay to the world.

The design concept of the torch relay graphic

Phoenix is the king of birds and belongs to Fire in Five Elements. It is the spirit of fire. The soaring phoenix with graceful bearing and dignified air is the totem of fire. The legend "phoenix nirvana and rebirth out of ash" also symbolizes man's constant striving spirit.

Down the ages, "Loong" (Chinese dragon) and "Phoenix" are the traditional totems embedded with people's blessing and hope.

Phoenix has left a deep imprint in Chinese civilization. The auspice and hope represented by it has always been a part of people's daily life.

Visual creation concept: Passion, Vigor, Culture and Celebration.

In conformity with the concept of "People's Olympics" of the Beijing Games, we aim to express Chinese people's hospitality in inviting the world and blessing the world, to exhibit the vitality and passion of the Olympic Games, and to deliver China's long history and unique culture with modern technique.

According to this design concept, we determined our ultimate goal as under the guidance of the basic values of the Olympic Games, taking the unique culture of the host country and host city as the basis of the visual design, to create a Chinese humanistic style, unique and vigorous core graphic for the Olympic Games.

The torch relay graphic is comprised of the core graphic of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the traditional Chinese phoenix pattern.

The torch relay graphic comprises the lucky cloud pattern exquisitely with the phoenix pattern, achieving the effect of vivid and distant. The modern design deeply expresses the unique integration of hardness and softness, implicitness and elegance in traditional Chinese arts.

The phoenix joins the great Olympiad, bringing the hope of luck and peace to the world, representing the core connotation of the torch relay graphic.