THE Beijing Paralympic flame will be lit by the sun at the Temple of Heaven at 10:30 a.m. today, marking the start of a nine-day relay through 11 cities.
The flame will be lit from the rays of the sun captured in a concave mirror in the same way the Olympic flame was lit.
The Paralympic flame will be lit at the temple to help integrate heaven and humankind, a core concept of traditional Chinese culture, embodying the Chinese people’s pursuit of harmony between humankind and nature, according to Jiang Xiaoyu, executive vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG).
From Aug. 29 to Sept. 6, the nine-day Paralympic torch relay will be conducted simultaneously along two routes, Ancient China and Modern China.
On Sept. 5, the two Paralympic torch relays will converge in Beijing and reach the National Stadium for the opening ceremony Sept. 6.
There will be a total of 850 torchbearers.
Organizers said that so far, more than 480,000 tickets had been sold, 32,000 of them to disabled spectators, and their families and friends. Of the total 1.66 million tickets available for the Paralympics, the best seats will go to disabled spectators.
The ticket prices have been kept low, from 30 yuan (US$4.29) to 80 yuan, and people can book through the official Web site until Sept. 14.
(SD-Agencies)