Life for disabled visitors and residents in one of China's foremost cities 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)