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Excitement reaches fever pitch again in Beijing

By Erik Nilsson and Lei Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-06 08:33

Beijing was buzzing with excitement on the eve of the opening ceremony of the largest-ever Paralympics, as anticipation of the grand gala's start reached its crescendo.

Volunteers spent the day zipping about, preparing to assist the 4,200 Paralympians from 148 countries and regions, and tens of thousands of visitors.

As of Friday, more than 1 million tickets had been sold for the event, while the first batches for events at the Bird's Nest and Water Cube were sold out a week ago, prompting organizers to add 500,000 more. The total number of tickets so far is 2.1 million.

Students from the Tagou martial arts school practice at a training base on the outskirts of Beijing on Friday. More than 2,000 students from the school in Henan province will perform during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Paralympic Games on Saturday. [Agencies]

Wang Wei, executive vice-president and secretary general of the Olympic Games organizing committee (BOCOG), said: "After seven years of unremitting efforts, all the preparatory work for the Beijing Paralympic Games has been fully completed."

"We are all set for the exciting moment to come," Wang, who is also the spokesman for the Paralympics, said.

Thursday's dress rehearsal for the opening ceremony at the National Stadium drew huge crowds.

Two hours before the event began, early-comers were seen clapping their hands above their heads and joining in a Mexican wave.

They also did synchronized imitations of the Paralympic mascot Fu Niu Le Le - a cartoon cow - curling their fingers into the shape of horns above their heads.

"It was exhilarating, because the crowd really got so into it," Beijinger Hu Meng, 26, said.

The opening ceremony rehearsal, exploring the theme "Sky, Earth and Human Beings", used cutting-edge technology and mass-scale choreography that made the audience "ooh" and "aah" throughout.

The ceremony's executive director Zhang Jigang had earlier told media the show would convey the "value of life".

Volunteer Wu Li, 21, said: "My favorite part is acting as a cheerleader to rev up the crowds."

Nan Jia, a 27-year-old civil servant in Beijing, said: "It's a great opportunity for us to meet new people and make new friends, and have a lot of fun."