A courtyard deep in the Liuhai Hutong (alley) in an old district of Beijing is providing visitors to the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games with a glimpse of community life of the country's disabled.

The community center, dubbed "Sweet home" by the disabled in the Shichahai Bar Street of Xicheng District, is an old Beijing residential compound of courtyards that are all well preserved.

On Thursday, a dozen community members rehearsed for performances they were preparing for the upcoming Paralympics. The day coincided with the launch of the torch relay for the world's most prestigious event for the disabled in the country's capital.

"Singing, dancing and making handicrafts are the main things the disabled community members learn from here," said a teacher surnamed Li at the center, one of more than 1,400 community bases for the disabled in Beijing.

She said the center served more than 100 disabled persons living in the neighborhood. Most were mentally disabed, aged above 20 and with a low behavioral ability.

"Before I came here, I was afraid of talking with strangers. But now I feel happy and satisfied in public occasions," said the boyish-looking Shen Fei inarticulately.

The 26-year-old mentally disabled man has represented China in various sports competitions, particularly the Special Olympics in the United States, Ireland and other countries going back to his teens.

It was only after he joined the community center in 2007 that he became confident in talking in public and ventured out in public without his mother's accompaniment.

He can also sing such songs as "Edelweiss" and "Heaven Road," which used to be difficult for him because of a speech defect.

Gao Yunhua, the first Chinese brain paralysis person to obtain a college diploma, is among the staff at the community center.

In 2003, the 27-year-old turned down an offer from IBM to fulfill her pledge of serving the disabled to let the computer giant share in her own success story.

"My elder sister suffered more serious brain paralysis than me. I am so proud that my work in the Sweet home could make her and many other disabled friends feel more happiness in life," she said.

Through her work, Gao makes investigations into problems and difficulties in the center's operation and education programs. She reports in a timely fashion to the municipal Disabled Persons' Federation, which attends to the 999,000 disabled population in Beijing.

Teacher Li said during the recent Olympic Games, many foreign dignitaries visited the center to show their support for the disabled.

President Hu Jintao visited the community service center on August 20 and used the occasion to call for better social services for the ordinary disabled population.

(Xinhua News Agency August 30, 2008)