CHINA JOURNAL

By Robert Hanna
It's easy to be po-faced about the Beijing Olympics and the impression it gave of First World sophistication. Lost in one's reverse snebbery. one can end up underselling the positive impact of that extraordinary event.
My own epiphany came on the Underground a week ago. In the crowded passageways I found my way blocked by a lady being pushed in a wheelchair. Suppressing, for the sake of charity, the minor burst of impatience that began to well up inside, I looked instead for a way past. Suddenly it struck me that I had never seen a person in a wheelchair using the Underground before. I began to take a new interest in the couple in front of me and I allowed my pace to match theirs. They seemed rather lost, but eventually negotiated the corridors to arrive, coincidentally, at the train I too wanted to board. Fellow passengers adjusted to the mild inconvenience of their presence on the crowded train. The staff were positively helpful and for the most part the pair seemed to be making their way unassisted. Eventually they left the train as effortlessly as they had alighted and went their way. A Beijing first, and all as a result of the Olympics.
I have spoken of the Games-related additions to the subway system before namely, the upgraded security but perhaps even more revolutionary has been the introduction of stairlifts at many of the stations and the provision of an ingenious stair-climber in other places. The former is a rather more industrial version of those found in many homes now, and the latter is a contraption I had never seen before which can be wheeled to the beginning of a stairwell, and allows a wheelchair-bound individual to be transported up or down effortlessly. They are not available everywhere, but they are to be had at the major stations and allow those in wheelchairs to access the system. Before, the otherwise excellent Underground could not have been described as disabledfriendly.
Access to public transport is just one of the challenges facing China's 60 million disabled people. Were one to look only at the legal code, the impression would be of enlightened attention to their needs. The reality is less impressive. Many of the legal mandates remain unfulfilled. What services that are available are often confined to the urban areas, with few, if any, supports available to the rural disabled. When one realises that 56 per cent of China's population lives in the countryside, it shows how many are outside the loop. A government-sponsored NGO exists to promote care of the disabled, but the topdown approach is not complemented by a vibrant grass-roots network promoting change.
The Paralympics has driven this change. It was perhaps a face-saving exercise: one could hardly host a Games for the disabled and have no access to the transport system, but a year from now, that will seem immaterial. What will remain is a new mobility and extended range for people who until now, could not easily move beyond their homes. During the Olympics one saw many foreigners in wheelchairs, but they were expected, and seemed an extension of the unreal quality of the Olympics.
The Olympics are over and this erstwhile po-faced observer is delighted to find that the legacy is more than a rather inaccurate impression of First World grandeur.
Robert Hanna has lived in China for many years. You can read his blog at www.greatwallappeal.org