The 2022 Winter Paralympics flame was combined from nine flames into one at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing on Wednesday.
One of the flames originated in the birthplace of the Paralympic movement, Stoke Mandeville in the UK, and then it was sent virtually to Beijing to be combined with the other eight flames from the three competition zones of Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou.
The torch relay began immediately after the flame was combined with the theme "Fire of the Ninth Heaven," which is the highest of heavens. A total of 565 torchbearers will participate in the relay, 21 percent of whom have a disability. The relay will last for three days in the three competition zones before entering the Olympic Forest Park on Thursday afternoon to be passed on inside the closed-loop management system.
The 2022 Paralympic Winter Games will begin on March 4 and end on March 13.
Torchbearers hold the 2022 Winter Paralympics flames at the combining ceremony at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, March 2, 2022. /CGTN
Torchbearers light the 2022 Winter Paralympics flame at the combining ceremony at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, March 2, 2022. /CGTN
Torchbearers hold the 2022 Winter Paralympics flames at the combining ceremony at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, March 2, 2022. /CGTN
Torchbearers pass on the 2022 Winter Paralympics flames at the combining ceremony at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, March 2, 2022. /CGTN
Torchbearers hold the 2022 Winter Paralympics flames at the combining ceremony at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, March 2, 2022. /CGTN
Ai Aiguo (#003) holds the 2022 Winter Paralympics flame at the combining ceremony at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, March 2, 2022. /CGTN
L-R: Torchbearers Li Yangwei, Han Bin, Heng Xin and Dong Jiong hold the 2022 Winter Paralympics flames at the combining ceremony at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, March 2, 2022. /CGTN
A torchbearer for the 2022 Winter Paralympics holds a CGTN microphone in his bionic hand at the combining ceremony at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, March 2, 2022. /CGTN
Torchbearers Jia Hongguang (#17) and Zheng Tao (#16), wearing bionic hands, hold the 2022 Winter Paralympics flames at the combining ceremony at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, March 2, 2022. /CGTN
Torchbearers hold the 2022 Winter Paralympics flames at the combining ceremony at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, March 2, 2022. /CGTN