Jane Lai, Han Ximin
The 2008 Beijing Paralympics torch relay will start its Modern China tour with the first leg to be run in Shenzhen on Saturday.
Liu Hong, a Shenzhen athlete in China’s national walk race team, will start the first run at the launch ceremony in front of the Deng Xiaoping Statue on Lotus Hill at 8 a.m.
Liu came fourth place in the women’s 20-kilometer walk race at the Beijing Olympics.
After the launch ceremony, the torch will be taken to Splendid China.China Folk Culture Villages in Overseas Chinese Town, where the other 69 torchbearers will complete the 3,500 meters inside the theme park. The theme park, the first to be built in China with the nation’s reform and opening up, is the window to Shenzhen tourism to the world. The entire relay will last more than two hours and finish at around 10:15 a.m, organizers said at a conference Thursday.
Shen Jianping, an employee with the Luohu Federation for Disabled Persons, will be the last runner. Shen, a disabled person in his 40s, was known for his passion for life and readiness to help disabled persons. He was regarded as a big brother to 28 disabled persons in the Liantang community where he was in charge. He worked hard to solve difficulties for more than 10 disabled people with rehabilitation and employment.
Three foreigners, Sandrice Ruibal, Jandro Daniel and Tamarit Borges selected by sponsor Atos Origin, and James Patrick, a United States expatriate working in Shenzhen, will run during the relay.
According to the Shenzhen Municipal Sports Bureau, nearly 20 percent of the runners are disabled persons and other torchbearers include civil servants, students, entrepreneurs and professionals.
The route of Modern China will also take in Wuhan, Shanghai, Qingdao and Dalian. The Ancient China route, which will start at the same time as the Modern China route, pass through Xi’an, Hohhot, Changsha, Nanjing and Luoyang.
The two routes will meet at Bird’s Nest in Beijing on Sept. 5, to light the Beijing Paralympic flame that will burn from Sept. 6 to 17.