More than 20 items of the Beijing Olympic Games memorabilia - ranging from an Olympic torch autographed by Juan Antonio Samaranch to a barbell - will be auctioned on August 8, the first anniversary of the Beijing Games.

China Beijing Equity Exchange (CBEX), the state company appointed by Games organizers to dispose of assets, will also put under the hammer torches of nine previous Games, from Mexico 1968 to Athens 2004, said a CBEX statement on its website on Monday.

Among the items are a 20m x 11m rehearsal canvas for the Beijing Olympics' opening ceremony, on which dancers and children drew the sun, the moon, mountains and rivers; furniture from Games' VIP rooms, a boat from the Beijing Olympic sailing events and the barbell which Chinese weightlifter Zhang Xiangxiang kissed after winning the 62kg championship.

Most items are on show at the CBEX venue in downtown Beijing from July 27 to August 7, except for the boat which remains at the Olympic sailing venue in Qingdao.

The auction will be held simultaneously at the venue and 13 other cities including Shanghai, Tianjin, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi'an, Guangzhou and Dalian, as well as on jinmajia.com, an equity exchange service platform.

CBEX has auctioned off 700,000 Olympic items during the past year, including the king-size bed used by basketball legend Yao Ming, and reclaimed 189 million yuan (US$27 million).

(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2009)