2008 Summer Paralympics torch relay

XIII Paralympic Games

Host city	Beijing, China
Countries visited	China
Start date	August 28, 2008
End date	September 6, 2008

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The torch relay for the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games was held between August 28 and September 6 in eleven cities, and also included the tomb of Yellow Emperor.

Planned Route

In 2007, the BOCOG announced the torch relay route, composed of three parts:

• The route of the Paralympics Games Host Cities, which includes Vancouver (the host city of the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games), London (the host city of the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games), Sochi (the host city of the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games) and Hong Kong (the co-host NOC of the 2008 Summer Paralympics);
• The route of Modern China, which includes Beijing, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Wuhan, Shanghai, Qingdao, Dalian and Tianjin; and
• The route of Ancient China, which includes Beijing, Huangdiling (The Tomb of Yellow Emperor), Xi'an, Hohhot, Urumuqi, Chengdu, Changsha, Nanjing and Luoyang.^[1]

Change of the route

In June 2008, the Beijing Games' Organizing Committee announced that the planned four international torch relay cities and four national cities for the Paralympic Games had been cancelled. The Committee stated that the relay was being cancelled to enable the Chinese government to "focus on the rescue and relief work" following the Sichuan earthquake. The torch relay was held exclusively within China.^[2]

Despite the officially stated reason for the cancellation, The Guardian attributed it to China's wish to avoid "a repeat of the protests" which had occurred in a number of cities around the world during the Olympics torch relay.^[3] Similarly, The Times wrote: "China has cancelled the international leg of the Paralympic torch relay, which was due to pass through London, in an apparent attempt to avoid similar protests to those that dogged the Olympic torch’s global tour."^[4] Reuters reported simply: "China, whose Beijing Olympic torch relay was dogged by protest overseas, on Wednesday cancelled the international leg of the Paralympic torch relay, giving the devastating Sichuan earthquake as the reason."^[5]

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Details of the Chinese routes: Lighting ceremony, Ancient Chinese route, Modern Chinese route, Opening ceremony

The relay started from Tiantan on August 28 and then divided to two parallel lines before coming together in Beijing:^[6]

The route of Modern China

1. Beijing
2. Shenzhen
3. Wuhan
4. Shanghai
5. Qingdao
6. Dalian
7. Beijing

The route of Ancient China

1. Beijing
2. Xi'an
3. Hohhot
4. Changsha
5. Nanjing
6. Luoyang
7. Beijing

Lighting

• Date: August 28, 2008
• Place: Tiantan, Beijing, China
• Host and hostess in post-ceremony and pre-ceremony: Pu Cunxin, Yang Lan
• Host of the ceremony: Guo Jinlong, Mayor of Beijing, Executive President of BOCOG
• Speeches:
  • Deng Pufang, President of the Chinese Disabled Person's Association, Executive President of the BOCOG
  • Philip Craven, President of the International Paralympic Committee
  • Liu Qi, President of the BOCOG
• Gather Flame: Jiang Xintian
• Urn Holder: Jin Jing, a famous Paralympic athlete
• Lighting the Flame: Liu Qi
• Cauldron Lighter and Begin Announcer: Wen Jiabao, Premier of People's Republic of China^[7]

Relay Summary

Route	City	Date	Place	Start from	Ends at	Length(km)	Torchbearers(Disabled Torchbearers)	First Torchbearer	First Torchbearer's Title	Last Torchbearer	Last Torchbearer's Title	References
The Route of Ancient China	Xi'an	Aug 29, 2008	On the city wall	Tower of East Gate	Barbicans of the South Gate	3.1	70(11)	Zhang Hui	one of China's National Top Ten Disabled Athletes	Li Huimin	a disabled entrepreneur	[8]
	Huhehaote	Aug 30, 2008		Genghis Khan Square	Hohhot Stadium	3.1	70	Yang Zhimin	Chairman of the Disabled People Association of Inner Mongolia	Chen Guoyi	Disabled entrepreneur	[9]
	Changsha	Aug 31, 2008		Changsha Women's and Children's Center	Hunan Swimming Center	3	70(13)	Zhu Weimin	Swimming Gold Medalist in 1996 Summer Paralympics	Tan Yuehua	Disabled Police	[10]
	Nanjing	Sep 2, 2008		Boai Square, Zhongshan Tomb	Jinshuiqiao Square, Ming Xiao Tomb	3	60(12)	Hou Jingjing	First wheelchair female doctor of china, vice professor of Nanjing Normal University	Zhou Zengfu	Coach of Paralympic Athletic	[11]
	Luoyang	Sep 4, 2008	Longmen Grotto	Longmen Grotto	Longmen Stone Square	3	60(9)	Zhu Hongyan	WR holder and Paralympic Gold Medalist	Liu Zhengwei	Executive secretary of the Luoyang Disable Persons' Association	[12]
The Route of Modern China	Shenzhen	Aug 30, 2008	Mountain Lotus	Statue of Deng Xiaoping	Baiyi Square	3.1	70(20%±)	Liu Hong	4th in Women's 20 km Walk in Beijing Olympic	Shen Jianping	Photographer with one arm	[13]
	Wuhan	Aug 31, 2008	Wuhan Economic and Technology Development Zone	Wuhan Sports Center Stadium	Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium	3	60(10)	Cheng Yu	Bronze Medalist of Women's Single TT6 and Gold Medallist of Women's Team TT6 of 1988 Summer Paralympics	Wen Qin	Athletic Gold Medallists of FESPIC Games	[14]
	Shanghai	Sep 1, 2008	Songjiang New City	Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade	Shanghai Sunshine Recover Center	3	60(10)	Zhao Jihong	Athletic Gold Medallist at the 1984 Summer Paralympics	Pang Jiaying	Swimming Silver Medalists and Bronze medalists of 2008 Beijing Olympics	[15]
	Qingdao	Sep 2, 2008		Square of the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center	May 4th Square	4.25(1 km over the sea)	70(20%)	Wu Chunmiao	Gold Medalist of Women's 200m T11 in 2004 Athens Paralympics	Zhou Yafei	Bronze Medalists of Women's 4X100m Medley Relay in 2008 Beijing Olympics	[16]
	Dalian	Sep 3, 2008		Xinghai Square	Dalian Forest Park	3.8	70(14)	Li Yang	Chairman of the Dalian Disable Person's Association	Li Jinrui	Vice Chairman of CCP Dalian Committee	[17]
Beijing		Sep 5, 2008	China Millennium Monument and Summer Palace	China Millennium Monument	17 hole bridge of Summer Palace(include a "之" Shape over sea relay)	6.5	120(30%)	Wang Juan	fencer	Zhou Hua	President of Beijing East City District Special Education School	[18]
		Sep 6, 2008	Chaoyang Park	Lihua Square	Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Field	5.5	120(40)	Xu Yuansheng	Coach of China Wheelchair Basketball Team	Zhao Jihua	Former President of China National Disabled People Association	[19]

Final Relay in Main Stadium

Chinese athletes with disabilities carried the torch in Beijing National Stadium during the Games' Opening Ceremony. Jin Jing carried the torch into the stadium, before it was passed on to Paralympic gold medallists Wu Yunhu, Zhang Hongwei, Zhang Haidong, Sun Changting and Hou Bin. Hou then pulled himself up on a rope to the top of the stadium to light the Paralympic flame.^[20][21]

See also

• 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay
• 2010 Winter Paralympics torch relay

References

1. "Paralympic torch relay route announced at one-year countdown". Archived from the original on 2008-09-06. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
2. "International torch relay for Beijing Paralympic Games cancelled", Xinhua, June 25, 2008
3. "Torch relay cancelled", The Guardian, June 22, 2008
4. "China cancels Paralympic torch relay", The Times, June 27, 2008
5. "World Paralympic torch relay cancelled", Reuters, June 25, 2008
6. "Paralympic torch to be lit on Aug. 28". Archived from the original on 2008-09-01. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
7. "Full Coverage of the Paralympic Flame Lighting Ceremony". Archived from the original on 2008-09-01. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
8. "Paralympic torch relay in Xi'an concludes". Archived from the original on 2008-09-01. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
9. Beijing Paralympic relay in Hohhot
10. Beijing Paralympic Torch relay in Changsha
11. Paralympic torch relay in Nanjing
12. Paralympic torch relay begins its journey in Luoyang
13. Paralympic Torch relay run in Shenzhen
14. Beijing Paralympic Torch Relay held in Wuhan
15. Paralympics torch lands on Shanghai^{[permanent dead link]}
16. Paralympic Torch Relay in Qingdao
17. "Paralympic Torch relays in Dalian". Archived from the original on 2008-09-06. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
18. Paralympic torch sets off Beijing relay in highlights
19. "2nd day of Paralympic torch relay in Beijing". Archived from the original on 2008-09-06. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
20. "Seven Parlaympians to pass Paralympic flame at opening ceremony", Xinhua, September 6, 2008
21. "Paralympics opening shows what can be achieved", CBC, September 7, 2008