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The Paralympic torch relay came to its penultimate stop in Haidian District of Beijing on Friday, counting down the opening of the Paralympic Games to one day.
The host city relay of the Paralympics was arranged in two symbol sites, the China Millenium Monument and the Summer Palace, marking the splendor of modern and ancient Beijing.
The relay started at 8:30 a.m. as the first 43 torchbearers passed the torch hand to hand in a 1.4km distance around the Monument.
Then the relay was moved to the Summer Palace 11 kilometers away for follow-up bearers. The torchbearers in No. 44 to 85 carried on the relay around the Kunming Lake in the former royal garden.
From No. 86 to 115, the relay was presented in a dragon boat on the Lake until the last five finished intraday journey on the Lake's bank at 10:20 a.m..
The Summer Palace, literally "Gardens of Nurtured Harmony", is a royal palace in China's Qing dynasty. The Palace is mainly dominated by Longevity Hill (60 meters high) and the Kunming Lake. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometers, three quarters of which is water. The central Kunming Lake covering 2.2 square kilometers was entirely man made and the excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill.
Paralympic athlete Wang Juan, 33, was the first one carrying the torch. Wang was the women's 100m and 200m bronze medallist at the Sydney Paralympics. She had broke the world record nine times.
Wang passed the torch to Sam Sullivan, mayor of Vancouver, the host city of next Winter Olympics. Sam is a good example of success for the disabled. He is the only mayor paralyzed in legs and arms in Canada.
A bunch of officials and staff from IPC (International Paralympic Committee) took part in the relay including IPC president Philip Craven, IPC vice president Miguel Sagarra Gadea, IPC senior manager of marketing Rudi Van den Abbeele, IPC president of Education Committee Anne Cody, IPC Executive Officer of Sports and International Relations.
"The Paralympic torch relay is fantastic and penetrating. It's showing us a festival, not only for the special group and for the whole world, for human kind," said Craven, who passed the torch to his personal assistant Diana Taylor.
"I have confidence for the Paralympic Games in Beijing. It will definitely be a great success like the Olympic Games have been."
Zhou Ye, 45, was entitled to light the cauldron. Zhou is the headmaster of Special Education School in Dongcheng District of Beijing. She has been working on special education for 25 years and won the title of "Top Ten Youths in Beijing".
"As a teacher and manager on special education, I really hope the world can give more and more attention to the special group," said Zhou.
"I'm so pleased to see what is happening in China. Cares and concerns are flowing to the disabled in China and more and more people are generous to them."
The last relay on Saturday will be staged in Chaoyang Park prior to the lighting of cauldron in the National Stadium for the opening ceremony.