A giant countdown clock was unveiled Monday in Canada's pacific port city of Vancouver to mark the three-year countdown to the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"This clock that we unveiled today will remind us not just of the years, the months and the weeks until we actually light that torch, but it will remind us of how incredibly intense this competition is," said Gordon Campbell, Premier of the British Columbia province, at the clock ceremony at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The clock, which measures 20-feet high, will count down the remaining days, hours, minutes and seconds to the Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

The clock was built by EEC Industries of North Vancouver, with three massive columns of steel, Plexiglas and red cedar. Vancouver's Karacters Design Group came up with the concept.

The Countdown Clock will be permanently located on the Georgia Street Plaza of the Vancouver Art Gallery, said Vancouver Organizing Committee CEO John Furlong.

Source: Xinhua