Spectators who returned from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, some 280 kilometres (170 miles) away in the desert of northwest China, were elated with Thursday's launch despite waiting hours for lift-off in the chilly night air.

"It was wonderful. I was so excited to watch the launch," Cai Mingfu, a high school teacher from the city of Lanzhou, told AFP.

"The launch centre is very high-tech, the facilities and the technicians are first-rate. The whole experience was wonderful."

During the 68-hour flight, astronaut Zhai Zhigang will undertake China's first-ever space walk when he dons a Chinese-made spacesuit and exits the orbital capsule of the Shenzhou spaceship.

Several thousand carefully vetted spectators were allowed onto the secretive launch centre to watch the launch of the flight that will test technology key to China's future goal of building a permanent space station.

"This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Jiuquan launch centre," said Jiang Bing, another teacher who was invited to the launch centre by the Gansu provincial government's education bureau.

"So this flight was very historic and has shown how far China has come in space exploration."

The historic moment, however, was brief: "It was dark and we didn't get to see the rocket very long because of the clouds."

In Jiuquan city, locals expressed pride in the nation's space programme and the way it had bestowed international fame on their city, which with 340,000 residents is small by Chinese standards.

Some said they hoped the city, known as China's space capital, might soon become as famous as Cape Canaveral in the United States and Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Located in Gansu province on the ancient Silk Road, Jiuquan is an oil and mining town, but many eke out a living by farming in the arid desert that surrounds the city.

"I'm honoured to be from Jiuquan. People from all over China know my city, and people from all over the world know the city," said Wang Xiaoyue, a 29-year-old tourism worker whose given name means "Little Moon."

Wang, who had witnessed several space launches, beamed with pride when recounting how she had met China's first man in space Yang Liwei and other "taikonauts" -- the Chinese term for astronaut.

"Of course we are proud of our achievements," said taxi driver Chen Gongmin.

"Everyone here follows the developments of China's space programme. These days all the young boys want to become a taikonaut, they are the elite of the elite."

Although none of China's first generation taikonauts was born in Jiuquan, Chen had hopes that in the coming years at least one resident would make it into space.

But some of the local women had different ambitions.

"I think that a lot of girls in Jiuquan think the same way," restaurant worker Tang Xue said. "We all hope that one day we can marry a taikonaut."

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