Mon, September 08, 2008
Some of Beijing's most popular tourist attractions are becoming more accessible as the city woos athletes and visitors to the Paralympic Games and fulfills its pledge to make life easier for its estimated 1 million disabled citizens.
"We've seen more disabled people shopping here recently, because the Paralympics is taking place," says Zhu Maimai, a saleswoman at the Silk Street Market in Beijing.
The popular clothes market now has a 160-meter blind-guide road leading to the entrance and 16 parking slots for handicapped shoppers.
Zhu says that salespeople have been trained to give considerate - but not too intense - service to disabled customers because too much attention can make them feel uncomfortable.
"We also have receptionists at the service desk who can use sign language to help hearing impaired people shop more easily," says Wang Zili, the market's general manager.
Handicapped access to Beijing's most famous part of the Great Wall, Badaling, includes two lifts and a wheelchair ramp that allows disabled visitors to see one of the best views from the man-made wonder.
In the 600-year-old Palace Museum, or the Forbidden City, a 1,000-meter long barrier-free pathway allows visitors in wheelchairs to go down the central axis of the palace.
Elevators have been installed in three main buildings in the imperial palace so handicapped visitors don't have to climb the 30 steps for a bird's eye view.
For the past few years, the municipal government has invested about 67 million yuan for barrier-free facilities in 60 tourist attractions with 12,028 sq m of wheelchair ramps and 3,183 meters of handrails.
Tang Xiaoquan, executive vice-president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), says that the work on barrier-free facilities enables disabled people from home and abroad to learn more about the social progress of Beijing.
Tang, who is also a senior official of the China Disabled Persons' Federation, says that Beijing will add 16 bus routes leading to the Games venues, and put 400 disabled-access buses in use during the September 6-17 Games, which will draw about 4,000 disabled athletes from around the world to compete.
More than 600 Paralympic vehicles have been made handicap friendly, and 2,000 low-chassis barrier-free buses were purchased and are operational.
At least one exit of each subway station, 123 in all, is equipped with facilities to lift wheelchairs. Staff have also been trained to give assistance.
In addition, 70 specially designed taxis with larger interiors to hold a wheelchair have hit the roads. The passenger seats of some of the vehicles can turn 90-degrees, making it convenient for disabled people to enter and exit.
Parking lots exclusively for the disabled have also been planned along the 39 trunk roads.
A total of 188 barrier-free rooms are being offered at 16 hotels serving the Paralympics. The hotels have gone through renovations to remove any barriers to the handicapped in guest rooms, elevators and bathrooms.
For instance, the space below a typical sink is kept empty to make room for wheelchairs; elevators are installed with buttons at a lower position for those in wheelchairs and with Braille signs for the blind.
Tang says that the barrier-free facilities were not for the Paralympics alone. "We mean to get the city's nearly 1 million handicapped population more involved in public life."
Wang Jing, a Beijing Xuanwu District volunteer among the 44,000 serving the Paralympics, says the disabled needed to be understood as well as helped.
"I bring paper and a pen with me in case a hearing-impaired person needs to ask me for help," says Wang.
More than 44,000 Games volunteers have been selected from 908,334 applicants from 27 countries and regions around the world to serve during the Beijing Paralympic Games.
The volunteers will be assigned to work in 2,170 posts in 43 fields, mainly providing services at Paralympic venues. Their work will include helping with guest reception, language translation, transportation, security and medical services, in BOCOG-designated areas.
Another 400,000 city volunteers will provide information consultation, language interpretation and emergency aid services at 550 posts throughout Beijing. One million social volunteers will also be providing services, working as cheerleaders during the Paralympic Games.
"Instead of a passing honor, the Paralympics has changed my life," says Cheng Yu, a gold medal winner at the Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games and also the first runner of the Beijing Paralympic Torch Relay Wuhan leg held on August 31 in Central China's Hubei province.
The table tennis champion had a car accident and injured her left leg when she was 15. After eight years suffering from the leg pains, 23-year-old Cheng had her leg amputated.
Now, as an orthopedist in Rongjun Hospital in Wuhan, she is still excited when she recalls her days as an athlete. "It's the deepest love and care from the government and people that let me attend this torch relay. I'm so grateful for that."
