The Lighting Ceremony for the Beijing Olympic Games has been moved up one hour today to 11 a.m. instead of 12 p.m. in Olympia, Greece, due to a forecast for inclement weather.

Under normal circumstances, sunlight is used to light the Olympic torch, but the latest weather report indicates the weather on Monday will be cloudy with a likelihood of rain.

Ioannis Papageorgiou is the deputy director of the Hellenic National Meteorological Service.

"The weather will be cloudy. We expect from the beginning of the day to have clouds over the Olympia area. And also we expect from midday to have some rain. March is in spring. Spring weather in Greece is difficult to predict."

Priestesses will rehearse the traditional Olympic flame-lighting ritual before the ceremony officially begins. They will prepare a back-up fire in case of rain.

Olympia has been decorated with strong Chinese flavors in preparation for the Lighting Ceremony. Beijing Olympic flags, rings and logos are displayed on all the major buildings and roads in the city.

Local residents and tourists say they are enthusiastic about the Beijing Olympic Games:

"We sincerely hope that the Beijing Olympic Games will be a great success."

China will send free TV signals worldwide to report the Beijing Olympics Torch Relay.