Living on the fourth floor of an apartment block, she is unable to leave her unit without others' help.

Going downstairs is a complicated process. First her husband, when he was alive, used to move her wheelchair downstairs and would then return to carry her down to the wheelchair.

Because of the inconvenience of taking a bus or other public transport, they had to go by taxi. Her husband carried her in his arms and placed her in the taxi and then folded the wheelchair and put it in the boot. The procedure was reversed when they got off. When her husband died in 1996, her only son continued his father's care. But Han is a woman who is unwilling to be a burden on others, even on her own family, so she mostly chooses to stay at home.

For many disabled persons like Han, it is so inconvenient to go out they have no choice but to stay at home. Also today, many commercial buildings and new stylish office blocks have special parking places for cars but nowhere to park autobikes for the disabled or wheelchairs - they are considered ugly.

Most large-scale supermarkets have installed escalators for customers but no lifts for the disabled. And the builders of many public toilets have made no provision for disabled residents.

Abused facilities

Lin Xinmei has been disabled by infantile paralysis since she was a little girl but last April she found a job in a high-rise building in Changning Lu. To her horror, she found she had to climb more than 10 steps to get into the building without any handrails to help her.

Footpaths and roads have no slopes for the disabled and even in some places, such as No. 2 subway station, where facilities for the disabled have been set up, they cannot be used immediately because the relevant workers have to be found to open them up.

In 2000, Shanghai BA-SHI (group) Industrial Company provided 17 buses and 35 minibuses for the disabled. There is a special space for wheelchairs and a lift with a companionway for the convenience of the disabled.

"The usage rate is very low and few disabled people take advantage of them," said Fei Liang, a company employee. "Besides, only one line has these facilities. The buses and microbuses don't fulfill their original function. It's said that the microbuses are also used for carrying heavy goods to Pudong Airport and will be sold."

The difficulty of going out remains a big problem for the disabled.

There are about 520,000 disabled persons in Shanghai, among whom nearly 50 percent are physically disabled and the remainder are elderly people. Allowing these people to be able to move around more freely is a big problem.

Now that Shanghai has become an international city, more and more tourists, including disabled visitors, will come for sightseeing or for business and how to make them feel at home is also a matter the government has had to consider.

Ongoing efforts

Some relief is in sight as Shanghai is supposed to become a "non-obstacle city" in four years under a new government policy.

"Public constructions such as emporiums, hotels, marketplaces and means of transportation to be built will be required to consider the disabled," said Zhang Guoliang, director of Shanghai's Disabled Persons Federation - Policy Study Department.

"Uptown facilities must also take the problem into consideration. In fact, it's not only a problem of concern to the disabled, it's a matter which should concern the whole society.

"The construction of non-obstacle facilities is convenient for the disabled and for women pushing baby-carriages, for people who are sick or injured and for elderly persons."

Zhang said many non-disabled people failed to understand that the disabled are an indispensable part of society. Nobody likes to be disabled, but anyone could be the victim of a medical failure or misfortune.

(Shanghai Star January 10, 2003)