 In 2007, it was chosen to be one of the cities for the 2008 Olympic torch relay, and was the first relay stop of the province, on which occasion more than 300 media companies, domestic and international, reported on the city.In the same year, the National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy named a meteor after Songyuan, an honor bestowed only on eight cities in the nation.In 2009, several exam cheating scandals gained the city nationwide media attention.