As you are reading this newsletter, the 4th Special Olympics China National Games is only days away.

In the evening of July 29 2006, the flame of the Games will be ignited. Over 1400 athletes from 33 teams from all over mainland China, as well as representative teams from Special Olympics Macau, Special Olympics Hong Kong, Special Olympics Korea and Special Olympics Chinese Taipei will join in the celebration. This is a great leap forward from the 1 st one held in March 1987 with only 304 athletes from 14 cities.

The Games, as Tim Shriver remarks, will become "a symbol to all of China as a society committed to victory without conquest, beauty without vanity, love without boundaries."

May the light from the Special Olympics, started by its founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 1968, continue to shine upon every person, regardless their ability or disability.

Best wishes,

Yan-Pui Tsin (YP)

To watch the Opening Ceremonies on July 29, please tune in to Heilongjiang TV (live at 7:50PM) and CCTV-5 (delayed broadcast at 9:30PM)