The 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games torch relay began in Shanghai this morning.

Yu Zhengsheng, the Shanghai Party Secretary, lit the torch at 9:30am and passed it to the first torch bearer Zhang Jihong, the first local athlete to break a world record in the long jump at the 7th New York Paralympic Games in 1984.

Yu Zhengsheng (R), the city's Party Secretary, holds the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games torch with the first torch bearer Zhao Jihong, the first Chinese athlete to break a world record in the Paralympic Games.

The relay will feature 60 torch bearers including 10 with disabilities.

The relay started at the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade, passed Donghua University and Songjiang New Town, and ended at the Shanghai Recovery Center for Disabled Persons.

It lasted for two hours and covered 3.1 kilometers, with each torch bearer running 50 meters.

The flame for the Games was collected at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing last Thursday.

The torch relay is being run in 11 Chinese cities. The run has been divided into two routes - "Ancient China" and "Modern China." Shanghai is the third stop of the "Modern China" route.

The flame will be back in Beijing on September 6 when the Games begin.

(Shanghai Daily September 1, 2008)