Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 5 (Reporter Luo Xin) On the evening of the 4th, as the lights gradually dimmed, the performance program "Under the Blue Sky" before the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Paralympics came to an end. With the help of the staff, the disabled musicians and their companions walked off the stage.

In this warm-up program, traditional Chinese musical instruments were performed vividly by a group of special musicians, which attracted the audience's applause.
With the beautiful emblem of the Winter Paralympic Games as the background, the "starlight" lit by the mobile phones of the audience in the stands shook with the rhythm. Wei Yaran, a third-year graduate student majoring in Erhu Performance at Minzu University of China, was deeply moved.
On the way to the "Bird's Nest" of the National Stadium, she was still wearing headphones and listening to the songs played on her mobile phone repeatedly. "Since childhood, I went to school with able-bodied people. Due to low vision, I need to use a magnifying glass to read books, and sometimes I need to read the words on the blackboard to my classmates."
During the rehearsal for the performance of the Winter Paralympics, I couldn't read the score clearly. Through repeated listening and identification, the notes were already "engraved" in Wei Yaran's heart. And many of the musicians in this performance are as "blind and savvy" as she is.

"I am very grateful for the Paralympic Winter Games, which allows us disabled people to show our artistic achievements. Just like the Paralympic athletes, we can also pursue a better life in all aspects like the able-bodied people." Wei Yaran said.
Zhang Qian, who suffered from polio since childhood, is a "double Austrian". "For more than ten years, I have traveled around the world with the orchestra to play the traditional Chinese musical instrument Zhongruan. In 2008, I also appeared on the stage of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Paralympic Games. Today, our orchestra has continued to grow, and music has given more people confidence. and strength."
Through learning to play Zhongruan and participating in orchestra performances, Zhang Qian has become more and more confident. "We play famous songs from different countries this time, and we hope to show the world the charm of traditional Chinese musical instruments, to show the spiritual outlook of our disabled Chinese, and to cheer for the Winter Paralympic athletes!"

About one-third of the cast and crew at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games are disabled, fully embodying the concept of disability integration. In a warm and moving atmosphere, they fully demonstrated the disabled people's unremitting pursuit for a better life and inclusiveness of the world.