The Bazaar Charity Gala hosted by Bazaar magazine, one of China's most widely circulated fashion publications, has selected "Fashion Cheering Up for the Beijing Games" as its theme for 2008.

The red carpet ceremony was held Friday evening in Beijing, just two days before the Olympics closing ceremony on August 24. A total of nearly 350 well-known Chinese movie and sport stars, TV hosts, entrepreneurs and other social elites walked along the red carpet and showed their support for the charity event.

Tony Blair, the former prime minister of the United Kingdom, attended the ceremony as well as many heavyweight directors and film stars such as director John Woo and actress Michelle Yeoh and Fang Bingbing.

Donations auctioned at the gala mainly included artwork and clothing and accessories from the world's leading brands such as Cartier, Dior, Gucci, Hermes, Tiffany, BV and Montblanc. The two most precious items came from renowned painter Zhou Chunya and the International Olympic Committee. Zhou donated his special work for this event, an oil painting entitled "Flower in Jiangnan." The IOC donated a set of official Olympic posters.

The charity auction raised about 10.35 million yuan, or more than 1.4 million U.S. dollars, a new record in its history. The proceeds will be directly donated to China's Red Cross Society and One Foundation run by renowned kung-fu star Jet Li. They will jointly help to rebuild the quake-hit areas of Sichuan Province.