BEIJING, Sept. 17 -- You can always wait for the next year if you miss celebrating a festival in true style and spirit. But events like the Olympics and Paralympics come only once in a lifetime, hence, the overwhelming feeling when it's time to bid goodbye to one.

    The curtains will come down on the Paralympic Games tonight. Sure, it will end the celebrations. But the spirit will live on.

Michael Hartnett of Australia hugs with their coach after winning the gold medal match of men's wheelchair basketball between Australia and Canada at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, Sept. 16, 2008. Australia defeated Canada 72-60 and won the gold medal. (Xinhua/Meng Yongmin)  Photo Gallery>>>

    If the Olympics made the world understand China better, the Paralympics made the Chinese understand the fighting quality of the physically challenged better.

    Under the Paralympics motto of Transcendence, Integration, Equality, Beijing held the biggest ever party of the disabled.

    The 12-day celebration of the human spirit threw up many spectacular and touching moments - moments of unalloyed joy and the will to keep the fight up.

Ukrainian football players throw their coach Sergiy Ovcharenko in the air after winning the gold medal match of the football 7-a-side during the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China, Sept. 16, 2008. Ukraine defeated Russia 2-1 and claimed the title. (Xinhua/Guo yong) Photo Gallery>>>

    The Japanese-Dutch women's volleyball match provided one such moment. Asano Kumi missed her first Paralympics because she fell victim to septicshock 20 days before the Games. But her teammates made sure she was present with them, for they carried the 21-year-old's photograph and No. 12 jersey on the court during every match.

    The Japanese women lost all their games, but the Games are much more than about winning or losing.

    Natalie du Toit created headlines even during the Olympics, swimming the women's marathon (10 km) and becoming the first amputee to do so. The South African won the gold in all the five events she took part in the Paralympics.

Gold medalist Natalie Du Toit (C) of South Africa, silver medalist Irina Grazhdanova (L) of Russia and bronze medalist Louise Watkin of Great Britain pose for group photos during the awarding ceremony of women's 50m freestyle S9 of Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, Sept. 14, 2008. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    The Paralympics is about Oscar Pistorius too. Having failed to qualify for the Olympics, he was expected to create the tracks on fire during the Paralympics, and he did exactly that. The double amputee won three golds.

    But these are only victories. And Paralympics is not about winning alone. It's about the feeling of equality - or superiority because the physically challenged have to put in more efforts than others.

South Africa's Oscar Pistorius celebrates after crossing the finish line during the final of the men's 400m T44 event at the National Stadium，also known as the Bird's Nest，during the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, Sept. 16, 2008. Pistorius claimed the title of the event with a result of 47.49 seconds and set a new world record. (Xinhua/Tao Ming)Photo Gallery>>>

    It's about things that more able-bodied athletes tried but could not achieve. It's about the Chinese men's footbal team, in the 5-a-side version. It's about an almost raw Chinese team beating Britain, Argentina, the Republic of Korea and Spain, and drawing with Brazil - something their more famous brethren cannot even think of.

    And more than anything it's about the way people look at the physically challenged in today's society. That was on show - in the stadiums, out on the streets, in the way people talked about them around dinner tables or while watching them on TV create history, and about the little children who, thanks to promotions and publicities, will grow up thinking about them as one of their own.

Athletes of Australia compete during the final of the men's 4x100m relay T42-T46 event at the National Stadium，also known as the Bird's Nest，during the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, Sept. 16, 2008. The Australian team took the bronze medal of the event. (Xinhua/Zhang Yanhui) Photo Gallery>>>

    Tens of thousands of spectators flooded the Olympic Green every day, the atmosphere in and around the Birds' Nest was the same as during the Olympics.

    Each time a national flag was raised, more than 90 thousand people stood up as one to pay their respects. There were some athletes who repaid the debt to the spectators. Tuninsian athlete Chida Farhat, for example, ran the victory lap with the Chinese flag. And Cypriot athlete Aresti Antonis got someone to write "Viva China" in Chinese on his forearm.

Spectators from Canada cheer up in the gold medal match of men's wheelchair basketball between Australia and Canada at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, Sept. 16, 2008.(Xinhua/Li Ziheng) Photo Gallery>>>

    Tonight the Bird's Nest will be finally able to sleep after a long but joyous journey that began on Aug 8, the opening day of the Olympics, and after Beijing hands over the Paralympics baton to London.

    There won't be a David Beckham around this time. But there will be Ade Adepitan, British wheelchair basketball bronze medalist in Athens 2004. And there will be Gareth Picken, a 9-year-old disabled gymnast, and hopefully Britain's future Paralympian. He will help Ade lead the iconic double-decker London bus to the center of the stage.

    The Paralympics, in a way, will return home to London in 2012. The Paralympic Movement has its origins in the British capital, where neurologist Sir Ludwig Guttman organized the first wheelchair games at Stoke Mandeville Hospital during the 1948 London Olympics.

    (Source: China Daily)

Paralympics to conclude, care for the disabled never ends

    BEIJING, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- When his disabled students, including some mentally-impaired ones, said "welcome to our 'Sweet Home'" in English to visiting para-athletes on the Mid-Autumn Day on Sept. 14, Jiao Shi felt quite satisfied.

    "I'm deeply moved as some of them, who are not quick-learners, kept practicing after the class," Jiao said.

Day 10: "Blade Runner" completes gold treble, China hits 200-medal mark

    BEIJING, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- South African sensation Oscar Pistorius completed a hat trick of gold medals in sprint events at the Beijing Paralympics on Tuesday as host China crossed the 200-medal mark.

    Pistorius, dubbed the "Blade Runner" for the J-shaped carbon-fiber blades he uses, won the 400m final in a world record time of 47.49 seconds to add to his titles in 100m and 200m. He bettered his own world recod by more than two seconds.

Bird's Nest witnesses 26 Paralympic golds in heavy shower 

    BEIJING, Spet. 16 (Xinhua) -- The ninth competition day of athletics at the Beijing Paralympic Games started in a haze on Tuesday when a total of 26 gold medals were decided despite of a heavy shower in the evening at the National Stadium known as the Bird's Nest.

    The greatest achievement fulfilled in the day would be probably deserved by Canada's Chantal Petitclerc who wrapped up her Paralympics career with her fifth Gold in Beijing.