Asian Para Games in Hangzhou
The 4th Asian Para Games officially opened on Sunday night, with nearly 3,100 athletes from 44 countries and regions taking part in 564 events across 22 sports at the Games which will run through October 28, Xinhua reported.
Asian Para Games in Hangzhou
Culture and Innovation

Asian Para Games in Hangzhou

Photo: AFP/ZDMPHOTO
Eurasia/Xinhua 24/10/2023 17:51

The 4th Asian Para Games officially opened on Sunday night, with nearly 3,100 athletes from 44 countries and regions taking part in 564 events across 22 sports at the Games which will run through October 28, Xinhua reported.

Two weeks after the close of the 19th Asian Games, the lotus-shaped Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium was filled with the spirit of competition and dreams of victory again as the 4th Asian Para Games opened on Sunday night, according to Xinhua. 

China's Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang declared the Asian Para Games open, as the event returns to China for the second time following the inaugural edition in Guangzhou in 2010.
Photo: AFP/ZDMPHOTO
Under the theme of "Hearts Meet, Dreams Shine", the opening ceremony reached its pinnacle when China's para swimmer Xu Jialing, who clinched seven golds at the Jakarta Asian Para Games in 2018, lit the cauldron with an intelligent bionic arm, emphasizing that technologies can help realize dreams.

A digital "Divine Bird" from the local Liangzhu Culture flew in towards the sacred flame and hovered while the cauldron was lit, and eventually turned into the mascot of the Hangzhou Asian Para Games "Fei Fei".
Photo: AFP/ZDMPHOTO
Ignited in Guangzhou, the Asian Para Games flame made its way into the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium following a three-day torch relay in Hangzhou, which concluded on Saturday and involved 600 torchbearers including 188 persons with disabilities.

Xu was one of the six athletes relaying the flame in the stadium, joined by five other Paralympic champions: athletics' Zhou Guohua, sitting volleyball's Zheng Xiongying, high jump's Hou Bin, swimming's Du Jianping and wheelchair curling's Wang Haitao.
Photo: AFP/ZDMPHOTO
An important element in Chinese culture and the city flower of Hangzhou, the osmanthus served as a thread running through the opening ceremony, with a golden osmanthus flower epitomizing the charm of Hangzhou, a golden osmanthus crown celebrating hard work and achievement, and a golden osmanthus tree showing the vitality of life.
Photo: AFP/ZDMPHOTO
Afghanistan led the parade of athletes as delegations entered in alphabetical order based on their national or regional Paralympic Committee names. Wheelchair basketball player Huang Xiaolian and wheelchair fencer Sun Gang held China's national flag together when the Chinese delegation entered onto the stage last.

Wang Hao, president of the 4th Asian Para Games Hangzhou Organizing Committee (HAPGOC) and governor of Zhejiang Province, extended his warmest welcome to all attendees, adding that the goal has been to hold an Asian Games and an Asian Para Games that are equally spectacular.
Photo: AFP/ZDMPHOTO
"Zhejiang Province is working to become a demonstration zone for achieving common prosperity, where every person has the opportunity to shine and realize his or her dream. 'Hearts Meet, Dreams Shine' is not only the slogan of this Asian Para Games, but also our shared aspiration," he noted.
Photo: AFP/ZDMPHOTO
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