A Giant photo wall to commemorate the 2007 Special Olympics in Shanghai was activated yesterday at the Jiangwan Sports Center in Yangpu District.

Named "Memory Wall," it also aims to extend the spirit of the Special Olympics in society.

At the activating ceremony, officials including Li Weiting, head of the competition department of the Special Olympics Steering Committee, together with intellectually challenged people and student representatives, made a composite picture of "the eye," logo of the Special Olympics, by pasting dozens of photos on the wall.

Zhou Taitong, chairman of the steering committee and city vice mayor, with Timothy Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics, finished "the eye" after pasting the final photo onto the wall, and then Zhou announced the successful activation of the Special Olympics Photo Wall.

Each photo features people involved in the Games, including Special Olympics athletes in competition and the volunteers working in every area for the athletes.

Most of the photos were taken by Special Olympics volunteers, who were the first group of contributors to the photo wall.

"The Special Olympics not only has drawn the attention of people in our country, but has also become a spirit for the citizens to follow," said Chen Zhenmin, head of the volunteer department of the Special Olympics Steering Committee.

"The process of hosting the events is full of devotion and happiness and gives us so many emotions, which will be the eternal memories written into the annals of Shanghai's history. So the idea of building a memory wall was created," Chen said.

Cai Jingqi, a student representative from Fudan University and volunteer of the Special Olympics, also shared her thoughts about the meaning of the program.

"We felt uneasy at first as volunteers, but after becoming familiar with the athletes all the uneasy feeling just disappeared and we sang and danced with them," she said.

"The happiness and affections they brought to us have far exceeded what we gave, and I have decided to bring the spirit of equality, inclusiveness and solidarity into campus."

On the open plaza of the Jiangwan Sports Center, the first batch of photos taken by university students during the Special Olympics was also on show with four themes: Where dreams start, I know I can, Harmonious society and Living under the same blue sky.

The steering committee also called on the people who have taken pictures for the Special Olympics to contribute, and the selected photos will also be pasted on the wall.

Contrasting with the historical architecture of the Jiangwan Sports Center, the photo wall will stand as a cultural landmark in the center.

(Shanghai Daily October 8, 2007)