People take photos of a model of the mascot for the 2008  Paralympic Games in Miyun District in Beijing, capital  of China, Aug. 29, 2008. The 2008 Beijing Paralympic  Games will open on Sept. 6.(Xinhua Photo)

Paralympic torch relay relay begins in Wuhan

The torch relay for the upcoming Beijing Paralympics is now underway in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. It is the second stop along the "modern China" route. The relay kicked off just ten minutes ago. The first torch bearer is orthopaedic expert Cheng Yu.

The torch relay for the upcoming Beijing  Paralympics is now underway in the central  Chinese city of Wuhan.

Cheng is a Wuhan Paralympic champion. She won a gold medal in the women's table tennis team match in Seoul in 1988. A total of 60 people, nine of them disabled, are expected to carry the torch on the three-kilometer route in the city's economic and technological development zone.

 The whole event lasts about one and a half hours. Shortly after that at ten o'clock, the Paralymic torch relay on the "ancient China" route will begin at its third stop in central China's Changsha city.