The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the thirteenth Paralympics, is being held in Beijing, China from September 6 to September 17, 2008. It was opened by Chinese President Hu Jintao on Saturday during a stunning ceremony at the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing. In the three-hour spectacular show, 6,000 performers and 4,000 disabled athletes from 148 countries took part in front of 91,000 ecstatic spectators.
The opening spectacular featured a number of disabled actors and actresses, focusing on themes of space, time and life. About an hour into the extravaganza, a female spectator broke through the security cordon and made it onto the main arena. She was immediately removed by security staff.
Hou Bin, an amputee athlete and Paralympics gold medalist in athletics, lifted himself and his wheelchair up to the cauldron with a rope before lighting it. With the theme of ‘Transcendence, Integration and Equality’, the Paralympic Games reflects the yearning and quest of persons with disabilities to build a better world, together with other people.
