Life for disabled visitors and residents in Xi'an is set to
improve.
A major overhaul of facilities for the handicapped in Xi'an - home
to the famed Terracotta Warriors - will include signs in braille at
major tourist sites. With around 350,000 disabled citizens, the Shaanxi
provincial capital is planning to invest huge sums of money to
improve its facilities.
A lack of funding and focus on the needs of the disabled by some
government departments caused Xi'an to fall far behind other
prosperous areas, particularly China's coastal cities, said Jin
Manqi, an official with the Xi'an Barrier-Free Facilities
Management Office.
In the past, the disabled in Xi'an had enjoyed disability friendly
facilities in public places.
To address the current problem, the local government has earmarked
3 million yuan (US$360,000) for the construction of such
facilities, including the introduction of braille signs, by the end
of this month in every urban tourist spot, said Jin.
On October 11, the Xi'an Municipal Disabled Association invited 30
people to research on existing disabled facilities in public
buildings and in streets, and also what provision is being made in
under-construction buildings, according to sources.
Xi'an has some 348,000 disabled citizens, 4.7 percent of the city's
total population, of whom some 80,000 are blind.
In 2002, the State Council appointed Xi'an one of 12 cities
nationwide to provide model disability friendly facilities.
In August 2002, the local government issued a regulation concerning
the construction and management of this type of facility.
That same year it pumped some 6 million yuan (US$720,000) into such
construction work.
The regulation requires every newly built, rebuilt or expanded
public and residential building, urban street, park, railway
station, long-distance bus station and major tourist spot to meet
its requirements.
(China Daily October 19, 2004)