Beijing offers disabled people more barrier-free facilities

Spurred by Beijing's role as the host of this year's Winter Paralympic Games, the Chinese capital's barrier-free facilities have improved a lot in recent years, making life more convenient for the elderly and disabled.

Du Peng, a Beijing resident who uses a wheelchair and works as an inspector of the city's barrier-free facilities, said it is becoming more friendly to people with disabilities.

In the past three years, Beijing has installed barrier-free facilities in 336,000 places, built 100 wheelchair-accessible streets and blocks, and established 100 "convenient life circles" with services available within 15 minutes of residents' homes, Beijing Daily reported.

In November 2019, Beijing issued a three-year action plan to further improve its barrier-free urban environment.

The plan has focused on improving the accessibility of the city's tactile paving, sidewalks, government affairs service centers, residential neighborhoods and other areas related to the everyday life of vulnerable groups.

Since then, stations on Subway Lines 1 and 2 have installed 59 stair climbers and 142 vertical platform lifts, while 12,000 buses have been equipped with wheelchair-accessible facilities, including barrier-free ramps, call buttons and seat belts so that more elderly and disabled people can travel independently.

Barrier-free facilities were also installed in a number of hospitals and public toilets.

In September 2019, the Beijing Games organizing committee released guidelines for better barrier-free access and established appropriate technical requirements.

Two thousand inspectors, including Du, have been working to evaluate the facilities using their firsthand experience. They have gone out to experience the obstacles during their daily lives and returned with many details that have helped the government upgrade services and facilities.

Peng Sitian, director of the barrier-free coordination department for the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympic Games, said the standards for facilities have been raised, with detailed requirements.

"In the past, we only ensured that we offered such facilities for people with disabilities," Peng said. "Now, we require that those facilities are easy and comfortable for all people to use. We take their user experience as a top consideration."

Digital technologies and artificial intelligence products have also empowered Beijing's barrier-free environment.

The city adopted big data to collect information and better meet people's needs for barrier-free facilities in a more targeted way.

The Games have provided sign language commentary services using an AI image to help people with different degrees of hearing loss.

The National Aquatics Center, the venue for the wheelchair curling competitions at the Paralympic Games, has been renovated to ensure barrier-free operation.

On the eastern side of the venue, also known as the "Ice Cube", a wheelchair accessible ramp with a total length of 80 meters and a width of more than two wheelchairs has been installed.