As the Olympic torch wound its way through China on the domestic legs of its relay, one of the 21,880 torchbearers who carried it was Italian journalist Francesco Liello of the Milan newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. A veteran sports journalist who's reported on three previous Games, he nonetheless said he was startled by the enthusiasm displayed by Chinese crowds along the relay route in Jingzhou, Hubei. We chatted on the phone right after his run. Excerpts:

Liu: What did you learn from participating in the torch relay that you didn’t know before?

     Liello: It’s funny. In 90 seconds of running I learned more about China and the Olympics than I had in three years of reporting on China. The Chinese were excited, shouting, yelling…I want to believe that that kind of emotion is hard to fake, that they really do care so much about the Games.

Q: How did they react to you? Not so long ago, especially during the controversial torch relay through Europe, the Western media was being reviled as biased and anti-China.

     A: Right after I got up today I did about 14 interviews [by Chinese media]. I’ve had two days of being a rock star! Nowhere else could an Olympic torchbearer attract so much attention.

Q: Do you believe the surge of media openness and government transparency right after the Sichuan earthquake has improved Chinese attitudes toward foreign media?

     A: There’s a big difference. The earthquake did change attitudes and the focus of attention.

Q: When Chinese journalists interviewed you, what did they say?

     A: At first I thought people didn’t know who I was. But they said ‘we know you’re the first foreign sports journalist accredited in China’. They knew. It was funny to be interviewed rather than be interviewing [others].

Q: What was the crowd like during your run?

     A: I was really cheered. When I got off the bus everyone was shouting ‘Zhongguo Jiayou!’ -- “Come on, China!” At first I thought they were saying it just because I was a foreigner. But then I saw they were all shouting it all the time. It wasn’t because of me but for themselves. They loved it. I can’t even remember all the emotions [that I experienced]. Only in China can something like this happen.