Shanghai held a scaled-down torch run yesterday out of respect for earthquake victims.
But tens of thousands of people still lined the streets of the commercial capital to catch a glimpse of the procession.
Shanghai held the torch run after Zhejiang province resumed the relay following three days of official mourning this week.
Organisers picked four people involved with relief work as torch-bearers and held a minute's silence for earthquake victims before the relay began in People's Square in the heart of the city yesterday morning.
The four included Sun Yuli, a doctor at the Shanghai Centre for Disease Control, whose husband - also a doctor - is working in the disaster zone. She told Shanghai media that she was waiting to go to Sichuan to help with the relief effort after carrying the torch.
'The torch symbolises that we are sending love, confidence and power to the residents in the disaster area,' she said. 'I want to tell them that our hearts will be with them and we will also come to them to help.'