Special Olympics East Asia (SOEA) regional office hosted an appreciation reception at Kerry Centre Hotel in Beijing on April 14 in honor of outstanding long term services provided by the region's volunteers, and in appreciation of continued support from officials and multi-national and Chinese corporations. Special Olympics athletes showcased their musical talents by dances and musical band performance with improvised musical equipment. The event was attended by over 150 guests including senior officials from Chinese government departments, such as China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF) and Ministry of Education; educators and Special Olympics athletes from local special schools; representatives from sports and educational organizations, sponsoring corporations, coaches and volunteers, including medical doctors from the region.

The Regional Office has for a number of years received assistance as it promotes the Special Olympics movement in East Asia, particularly in China. Among such corporate sponsors are Newscorp, Bayer, Amway, Beijing Sports University, Boeing, Coca Cola (China), Crowne Plaza & Holiday Inn Hotels, Dallin Art, Hong Kong Dragon Airlines, High Team Communications, MoFo, News Corp., St. Regis, Timken, UBS and Xinhua PR Newswire.

The honored guests include Madam Sara Randt, wife of US Ambassador to China, Mr. Wang Xinxian, Party Secretary and Vice Chairman of CDPF, Madam Tang Xiaoquan, President of CDPF, Mr. Lv Shiming, Vice-President of CDPF, Mr. Jia Yong, Chairman of SOEA Regional Advisory Committee, Dr. Shi Derong, SOEA Senior Advisor and Chairman of SOEA Fundraising Committee, Mr. Wang Zhijun, SOEA Senior Advisor, Mr. David Li, Chairman of UBS China and UBS Securities, and Mr. George Baird, Resident Manager of Kerry Center Hotel.

Renowned regional coach, Mr. Kwok Ka-ming received his award from Madam Sara Randt

Regional Coaches-Sun Chongxi, Fay Ho, Kwok Ka-ming and Special Olympics athlete Gu Yeming photographed with officiating guests

Trophies awarded to select corporation leaders

Each Program in SOEA region, Special Olympics China, Special Olympics Chinese Taipei, Special Olympics Hong Kong, Special Olympics Korea and Special Olympics Macau, was presented a trophy in recognition of their contributions in the past years.

SOEA Programs Leaders

Dr. Dicken Yung, President of SOEA, was presented the "Most Distinguished Contribution Award to the Special Olympics movement in China" by China Disabled Persons’ Federation & Special Olympics China leaders- Mr. Wang Xinxian, Party Secretary and Vice Chairman of CDPF and Madam Tang Xiaoquan, President of CDPF.

Dr. Dicken Yung received the Most Distinguished Contribution Award to the Special Olympics movement, photographed with presenting officials and his family.

Special Olympics East Asia was set up in Beijing in 2002 as one of the world's seven regional offices of Special Olympics International. It has undergone rapid growth, covering the largest number of people with intellectual disabilities to be served in the world. Within the 6 years, the number of athletes in SOEA has grown to 774,929 that tops all of the seven regions in the world.
In addition to working with its Programs of sports training and competitions, SOEA has launched a number of initiatives such as the Model University Project, Unified Sports project, SO Get Into It project, Athlete Leadership Program, which enriched the extent of SO movement and led to future development of SO in the region.  

Mr. Li Yansheng, a renowned calligrapher wrote on site the oath of Special Olympics Athletes in Chinese "Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt." The calligraphy was presented to SO athlete Mr. Gu Yeming and his partner Mr. Gao Mingfei.

The renowned artist Mr. Li Yansheng