LUOYANG, Central China, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Beijing Paralympic torch relay in central Chinese city Luoyang concluded after the flame visited the well-known Longmen Grottoes on Thursday.

    Sixty-five torchbearers took part in the 1,900-meter relay around the Grottoes, which are one of the three most famous ancient sculptural sites in China.

    When Liu Zhengwei, the final carrier, lit the cauldron under the gaze of the stone-carved buddas, the Luoyang leg of the torch relay ended.

    The Beijing Paralympic torch relay, with "transcendence, integration and equality" as its theme, covers 13,181 kilometers in nine days, passing through 11 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

    A total of 850 torchbearers from home and abroad have run along the "Ancient China" and "Modern China" routes, symbolizing a grand feat for "persons without a disability and persons with a disability running together to jointly build a harmonious society."

    The two routes will converge in Beijing on Friday in the run-up to the opening of the Paralympic Games.