BEIJING, August 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao lit the Beijing Paralympic flame at the ancient Temple of Heaven in Beijing on Thursday, kicking off the torch relay across China before the Paralympics open on September 6. In front of the symbolic Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, Jiang Xintian lit the flame out of a concave, burnished mirror.

The flame was then handed to Jin Jing, the wheelchair fencer and torchbearer during the Paris leg of the Olympic relay. The flame was used to light a torch held by Liu Qi, president of the organizing committee of the just concluded Beijing Olympic Games. Liu passed the torch to Wen Jiabao, who lit an urn and announced the beginning of the Paralympic torch relay.

The flame lighting ceremony was also attended by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping and Zhou Yongkong, a senior official of the Communist Party of China. The flame will be sent to two destinations, Xi'an in northwest China and Shenzhen in the south, where the relays will be launched on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

A total of 850 torchbearers will participate in the relays along two routes through 11 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. The "Ancient China" route will pass through several cities of historic and cultural significance, including Xi'an, Hohhot, Changsha, Nanjing and Luoyang. The "Modern China" route, running through Shenzhen, Wuhan, Shanghai, Qingdao and Dalian, will showcase the country's achievements in its recent drive for modernization. "The flame will symbolize, over the next ten days, the unique sporting spirit displayed by Paralympic athletes," said Philip Craven, president of the International Paralympic Committee at the flame lighting ceremony. "This spirit overcomes many obstacles in the search of sporting excellence."

The Temple of Heaven, a gateway between the earth and the sky in Chinese traditional thought, was the perfect location to light the flame for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, he said.

Craven also appreciated the Chinese people for portraying the Paralympic values of courage, determination, inspiration and equality during recent disasters such as the severe winter storm and devastating May 12 earthquake.

"We will try our best to prepare for the Paralympic Games and well serve the athletes, coaches and guests," said Liu Qi at the ceremony. "The Beijing 2008 Paralympics will be a unique, high quality Games."

About 4,000 athletes with disabilities from around the world will compete in the September 6-17 Games.

The Paralympics carries on the great Olympic spirit and also bears the dream of the 650 million people with disabilities in the world, said wheelchair user Deng Pufang. Deng serves as BOCOG executive president and chairman of the China Disabled Persons Federation.

"The torch relay will show the world the consistent efforts a vigorous country with rich heritage has made to promote a harmonious and beautiful world and mutual respect for human beings," he said.

Workers are freshening up the decorations in Tian'anmen Square, arranging new flowers and changing the Olympics emblem to that of the Paralympics.

The Five Fuwa also had to make way for Paralympics mascot Fu Niu Lele (Happy Cow).

In the 12 days between the end of the Olympic Games and the start of the Paralympic Games, the city will be busy getting itself ready for the transition.

Posters, emblems and mascots are being changed in the 13 competition venues, the Olympic Village and the Media Village.

Some temporary barrier-free facilities are being erected in the Olympic Village, which will be renamed the Paralympic Village. It is scheduled to formally open on Saturday.

Subways, buses and tourist sites are also undergoing last-minute checks of their accessibility for those with disabilities.

"I am applying to be an 'on the spot' narrator for friends with visual impairments," said Wang Weili, who founded a small "cinema" for the visually impaired.

During the Olympics, he narrated the Opening and Closing ceremonies, as well as competitions, for the visually impaired in his 20-square-meter theater in a downtown Beijing hutong.

According to the BOCOG, half of the tickets for the Paralympic events have been sold. Those for events to be held in the National Stadium and the National Aquatics Center (Bird's Nest and Water Cube) are sold out.