Tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Paralympics and associated sports events are selling well, a senior official from the Games' organizing committee said over the weekend.

"So far, more than 480,000 tickets for have been sold, 32,000 of them to disabled spectators, their families and friends," Tang Xiaoquan, executive vice-president of BOCOG and vice-president of the China Disabled Persons' Federation told a press meeting on Sunday in Beijing.

Of the total 1.66 million tickets available for the Paralympics, the best seats will go to disabled spectators, Zhao Chunluan, chief of the Beijing Disabled Persons Federation, said.

The price of tickets has been kept low - from 30 yuan ($4.40) to 80 yuan, and people can book through the official website, www.tickets.beijing2008.cn, until Sept 14, he said.

All of the tickets will be sold on a first-come-first-served-basis, he said.

In a move to let more people enjoy the Games, 20 percent of the tickets have been set aside free of charge for the Paralympic Education Program.

Dubbed "Sky, Earth and Human Beings", the logos of the Beijing Paralympics yesterday begin to replace those of the Olympic Games.

"All departments concerned are ready for the transformation work, and we are confident of staging another successful Games," director of BOCOG's Paralympics department, Zhang Qiuping, said yesterday.

The Games, the 13th, will be held in Beijing from Sept 6 to 17.

In addition to the Paralympic venues, buildings across the entire city have been fitted with easy-access installations, and some at historical sites such as the Great Wall and Forbidden City, Tang said.

(China Daily August 26, 2008)