How sacred flame came to climb sacred mountain

Zhang Zhijian of the Chinese Mountaineering Association (CMA) explains where the idea of the sacred flame scaling Mount Qomolangma came from:

After mountaineers Wang Yongfeng and Li Zhixin of the Chinese Mountaineering Association successfully went around the world climbing the highest peaks on the seven continents, celebrations were in order. But, what next? How would the glory of the CMA be continued?

At the time this question was pondered, coincidentally, the 21st session of a university students' athletic meet was to take place in Beijing. In considering the torch relay for this event, some people came up with the idea of lighting a flame at the highest peaks in Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, and South America, and then having them all converge at Beijing's Tian'anmen Square, signaling the start of the athletic meet.

We offered this idea to the planners of the competition; however, after thanking us for our support, they apologetically turned down our suggestion, stating that the design for the torch relay had already been confirmed.

Not long after, Beijing began its bid to host the Olympics. We sent our idea to the bid committee, but received a similar response in return. We were again thanked for our idea, but the committee explained that the flame could not be lit in any country other than Greece. In reality, our proposal remained in their thoughts.

On July 13, 2001, when China was informed that it was granted the honor of hosting the Olympics, BOCOG revealed that the sacred flame would enter the Chinese mainland by scaling Mount Qomolangma from Nepal as part of the torch relay, after traveling around the world. Representatives of BOCOG and IOC put their heads together to plan out the intricacies of the route. Plans have changed since then, and now, the mountain climb will be a part of torch relay after the sacred has already entered the Chinese mainland, as an extension of the sacred flame.

The entire plan therefore was not thought up by one person, or even a few persons, but a collection of people who invested their hearts and minds in the success of the Beijing torch relay and Olympics.