Para games add to harmony in Asia

The 16th Asian Games in the Guangdong provincial capital Guangzhou presented audiences with a magnificent sporting feast. Now Asian people's attention will once again be on the booming Pearl River city as the Asian Para Games began on Sunday.

The Guangzhou Asian Para Games is the second major sports event for disabled athletes in China after the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.

The Asian Para Games was previously known as the Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled (FESPIC). In 2006, the Asian Paralympic Committee was set up to push forward the development of sports for disabled people in Asia and help boost their social status. The same year, the committee decided to change the FESPIC into an event for disabled athletes in Asia and chose Guangzhou as the host for its first games.