Once a masseur, now a singer

Yang Haitao could not see the stunning setting for his performance at the Bird's Nest, nor could the blind singer hear the thunderous applause because of the monitor earphones he was wearing, but he cherishes the moment.

"If I am able to see for three days, the people I want to see most are my father, mother and you," he said to the audience at the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Paralympic Games.

Yang, who is a member of the China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe, suffers from congenital blindness.