Led by NBA star Yao Ming and Lin Hao, a primary school student from the quake-affected Sichuan province, the Chinese delegation paraded into the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games on Friday night.

The 9-year-old Lin walked ahead of the 1,099-member delegation, side by side with the 7-foot-6 basketballer, who carried the Chinese national flag.

Team China, which includes 639 athletes and has an average age of 24.4, will compete in all 28 sports.

Lin is a second-grader at the Yuzixi Primary School in Yingxiu Town, Wenchuan County. Wenchuan was the epicenter of a devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake on May 12 that killed over 69,000 people.

Sharpshooter Tan Zongliang, 37, is one of the three Chinese athletes making their fourth Olympic trip. The other two are basketballer Li Nan and Guo Jingjing, two time Olympic champion on women's springboard.

While 469 are making their Olympic debuts, 37 took part in the Sydney Games in 2000 and 165 were in Athens four years ago.

The Chinese delegation also includes 42 ethnic athletes over 18 sports.

The delegation included 38 foreign coaches including men's basketball manager Jonas Kazlauskas of Lithuania.

2008/08/08

Source: Xinhuanet