CHANGSHA, China, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Beijing Paralympic torch relay in Changsha concluded on Sunday.

    Seventy torchbearers took part in the three-kilometer relay in the capital city of Hunan, a province of south-central China, located on the lower reaches of the Xiang river, a branch of the Yangtze River.

    When Tan Yuehua, the final carrier, lit the cauldron in the Olympic Star Square, the Changsha leg of the torch relay ended.

    The torch relay was designed to raise public awareness of the well-being of the disabled persons in China, according to the No. 4 carrier Justin Anemaat, an Australian from Brisbane.

    "It's a great occasion to help get everybody involved to take care of the disabled," he said.

    Anemaat has been in China for seven years serving a voluntary team coordinator in a charity organization.

    "We now take care of 102 orphans in Changsha. I enjoy my work very much as I am helping change those kids life for better," he said.

    The Beijing Paralympic torch relay, with "transcendence, integration and equality" as its theme, shall cover 13,181 kilometers in nine days - passing 11 cities which are selected from as many provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government.

    Some 850 Chinese and international torchbearers will run along the "Ancient China" and "Modern China" routes, symbolizing a grand feat for "persons without a disability and persons with a disability running together to jointly build a harmonious society."

    The two routes will converge in Beijing on Sept. 5 in the run-up to the opening of the Paralympic Games.