The torch relay for the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games has begun a three-day journey covering the Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou competition zones.
The Paralympic Heritage Flame was lit on Monday in Stoke Mandeville, a village northwest of London regarded as the birthplace of the Paralympic Games. Another eight flames will be collected at eight locations on Wednesday in the three competition zones.
The locations feature special schools and libraries for the blind, cultural and historical landmarks, and the 2008 Beijing Summer Paralympic Games flame collection site. All nine flames will be united as one flame cluster at the Temple of Heaven to become the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games Flame.
On Thursday, the torch will make its way to the Thaiwoo Ski Resort in Zhangjiakou, Beijing Expo Park, before being relayed by torchbearers in the Olympic Forest South Park inside the closed loop.
On the final stretch of the journey, the Beijing Disabled Persons’ Culture and Sports Guidance Center and the China Disabled Sports Management Center will lead the relay before the torch is used to light the Beijing Paralympic Cauldron at the opening ceremony on Friday.
According to the organizers, the flame will be carried by 565 torchbearers, of which people with disabilities account for 21 percent.
