If the Olympics were China's debutante ball, then the Paralympics starting this Saturday are the after-party - less formal, less critical, and therefore in all likelihood a lot more fun. And more important. That's right: apart from popular opinion, that most deluded and easily led of beasts, the Paralympics have far more to do with One World and One Dream than the recently concluded jock-fest.

What's so noble about faster, higher, stronger anyway? A sixty-pound chimp could have swept all but the super-class weightlifting finals. A greyhound well past its prime would have forced Bolt to turn his head to the grandstand to avoid choking on its dust. Animals specialize in speed, strength and agility, and on those terms outstrip even those of us who choose our parents with the utmost care. Humans specialize in spirit. That spirit shines brighter than Olympic gold when an athlete gives all, pushing past her limits for the fierce joy of competing.

We're all hobbled by limitations. Some rely on these limits to stay on the road of comfort and mediocrity. The Paralympics celebrate what's truly noble, living with joy and pride despite being limited in a way that many still label "crippling". You can bet no athletes at the Paralympics will quit the field just because they realize they have no chance of winning a medal.

It's OK Liu Xiang; we understand. Humans also specialize in strategizing, because we alone believe in the future rather than the eternal Now. And the future's a scary place, especially when you have a lot at stake. Imagine how scary it is when you have the kind of limitations that stand out - a missing limb, lack of eyesight. Even animals understand that fear, which is why felines kill malformed newborns, and even the cowardly chicken will attack a wounded brood-mate, albeit as a flock.

Demonstrating that the spirit is far more powerful than physical limitations, now that's humanity at its best. And a society that acknowledges it is far mightier than one that only builds monuments to speed and strength, and hides the physically limited away in corners.

By liberal interpretation of the term "disabled", advocacy groups claim that a fifth of us have a physical limitation. China's Disabled Person's Federation claims 6.83 percent. That's 83 million people, 75 percent in rural areas, with half the average per capita income and seven times the illiteracy rate. Historically, governments must take the lead in uplifting the disabled; far less than 6.83 percent of any country can see past the appearance of weakness, speaking of limitations.

China took a great leap forward in empowering all of its citizens with the Law on the Protection of Disabled Persons, implemented on May 15^th, 1991. Fifty-four articles dealt with everything from plans to make public places more accessible, to punishment for those who exploit the disabled. Ten years later, there were still intentionally disabled beggar children on Beijing's bar street, but a legal precedent had been set. The precedent has since been improved and amended, with new laws mandating the grassroots promotion of disabled participation in sports and culture.

The trouble is, legal precedents sway minds without winning hearts. We fear a ticket for parking in a disabled person's spot, but we begrudge the privilege, in our darker thoughts. Government protection sets the protected group further apart.

The Paralympics go a long way in closing that gap, in helping us realize our sameness at the most important levels. The Paralympics put faces to the concept of disabled accomplishment. Unlike the few Olympic athletes who overcame a physical adversity to compete, each of the 4,000 athletes at the Paralympics, competing in twenty sports, will have his own story of becoming a great athlete despite physical challenges. Granted, that's the reason for the Paralympics, but those stories coupled with intense competition go far in reshaping our perspectives.

Beijing will be reshaped too, more subtly than its Olympic transmogrification, but just as much to its credit. Nick Morris http://www.accessibility.com.au/news/accessing-beijing, member of the International Paralympic Committee and consultant to BOCOG, believes Beijing will host the most accessible Games to date. He sees the spate of preparations for the Games, low floor transport options, as well as lifts and ramps favored over stairs already influencing architects and city planners in other Chinese cities such as Shanghai. A trend towards accessibility will be a great legacy for the Paralympics to bestow on China's disabled, and a testament to China's growth and power as legitimate as any economic statistics.