[Big read] Tiny steps, big change: How everyday efforts are building an inclusive Guangzhou

(Photos by Zeng Shi unless otherwise stated.)

Since March, 25-year-old visually impaired volunteer Feifei has been making a weekly one-hour cross-city metro journey to Heyuan community (和苑社区) in Guangzhou’s Liwan district. For over six months, she has been teaching the community’s visually impaired residents to use computers and smartphones.

Heyuan community is known for its significant population of residents with special needs. Among its 3,650 registered inhabitants, more than 180 have disabilities, including 43 who are visually impaired. Addressing the daily living and socio-cultural needs of this group is an ongoing challenge for its residents’ committee.

Last October, the local sub-district office opened Guangzhou’s first community-level cultural centre for the visually impaired, the 70-square-metre Heguang Reading Room (和光阅读馆).

Other than Braille books, the venue is equipped with a variety of assistive facilities and devices to aid its users in reading, interacting and learning.

Feifei’s tutoring is one of the regular charitable activities available here through partnerships forged with social organisations.

Heyuan resident Liang Minni, 21, is one of Feifei’s visually impaired students. In six months, she has progressed from having no computer experience to slowly finding keys on a keyboard and accurately opening a text editor with the help of screen-reading software. She now practices typing English words for fruits, vegetables, and animals.

Through the internet, Liang is gradually connecting with a wider world. She is also learning to type in Chinese and exploring more computer software, hoping to discover and enjoy more music online.

“Now that I’ve learned to use the computer, I can switch it on myself to listen to songs,” Liang said, her voice filled with optimism for the new possibilities ahead.

Heyuan Community Residents’ Committee director Wu Zhifeng said the community currently has the highest concentration of visually impaired residents in Guangzhou, making its needs different from those of other communities in general. Plenty of thought goes into the inclusivity of its facilities and equipment, while the socio-cultural needs of its residents also have to be catered to. There are regular community activities like movie screenings with audio description and training classes for its visually impaired residents, such as Liang’s computer course.

Wu remembers how the relocation of Guangzhou’s Centre for the Blind (盲人大院) in 2019 led to a group of visually impaired people moving into Heyuan together. Back then, the housing project lacked barrier-free accessibility, and one time, a visually impaired person got lost in the basement carpark after mistakenly taking the lift there. Thankfully, a security guard on patrol came to the rescue. Following that, the community started working together with the property manager to provide barrier-free access.

Today, the residential community boasts a comprehensive network of tactile pavements and a barrier-free navigation system. Its elevators feature Braille buttons and audio announcement systems, and households with visually impaired members have had their homes retrofitted into accessible smart ones. Additionally, there is a team of volunteers that provides all-round support for the visually impaired.

Nowadays, when its visually impaired residents move through the estate’s public areas, their smartphones or issued Bluetooth bracelets automatically provide location updates with announcements such as “Heyuan Community Government Services Centre” or “Heguang Reading Room”. Wu shared that the visually impaired residents got used to life in the community about a year after moving in.

Visually impaired resident Cai Zhizhen, 75, can certainly attest to this. “Life is much easier now.”

With guidance from volunteers, Cai has learnt to use a smartphone and can now confidently navigate the device. She is able to open WeChat and use voice messages to communicate with other visually impaired neighbours, and often arranges to meet for activities.

Heyuan community is a role model for barrier-free retrofitting and inclusivity in Guangzhou. It is also a source of hands-on experience in working towards an accessible city.

As a vital part of social and public services, the development of accessible facilities serves as a key measure of a nation or city’s level of civilisation and reflects the extent of its social equity. A recent Weibo post from wheelchair-bound singer Zheng Zhihua put the limelight back on this issue.

On 25 October, 63-year-old Zheng criticised Shenzhen Bao’an airport on Weibo for failing to accommodate the handicapped. A height gap forced him out of his wheelchair to board, while staff “watched coldly”. His post quickly went viral.

Within the day, airport authorities issued two apologies over the incident, explaining that the height difference between the lift and cabin door is an operational safety requirement, and added that it would be trialling ramps for boarding.

In a plot twist, a video of the incident that was subsequently shared online showed airport staff supporting Zheng during the entire boarding process, and Zheng later apologised for his exaggerated description of having to “roll and crawl”.

Despite the sudden turn of events, the outburst again exposed urban development shortcomings in many Chinese cities. Many small details towards achieving barrier-free accessibility remain to be ironed out, as practical needs are not met. Recently, there has been debate over issues such as gaps in urban barrier-free accessibility and enabling the handicapped to commute with ease.

In fact, several Chinese cities have been promoting accessible environments in recent years, including improvements to roads and public buildings. As a result, mobility and social participation for groups such as the elderly and persons with disabilities have both improved.

China also passed a law on building a barrier-free living environment in 2023, providing regulations on accessible infrastructure, information exchange, social services, and so on.

The law stipulates that all newly built projects across the country must meet accessibility standards; that governments should promote the installation of elevators or other accessible facilities in existing multi-storey residential buildings; and that local authorities should gradually establish accessible public transportation guidance systems in cities.

Support for the daily needs and social security of people with disabilities has also been strengthened. According to data, by the end of 2024, China had completed accessibility renovations for more than 1.28 million households with severely disabled members living in hardship.

Nonetheless, there is still room for improvement in terms of maintenance and supervision. For example, there have been cases of tactile pavement misuse, damaged or rundown barrier-free facilities, and delayed modification projects in old residential areas. At the service level, certain government or commercial digital platforms are also unable to meet the needs of visually impaired users as they are not totally compatible with screen-reading software.

Guangzhou was selected in 2021 as a “National Model City for Accessible Environments” and has continued in recent years to improve accessibility in roads, parks, pedestrian bridges, and other public facilities. In particular, with Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau jointly hosting China’s 15th National Games, National Games for Persons with Disabilities, and National Special Olympic this November, Guangzhou — one of the host cities — has carried out comprehensive upgrades and renovations.

On Guangzhou’s current accessibility environment, Zhang Qianxin, chairperson of the Liwan district Association for the Blind, said in an interview that the city’s accessible infrastructure and services are relatively well developed. Taking visually impaired residents as an example, she noted that this group is generally able to travel independently using existing facilities. Thanks to this convenience, many visually impaired people are willing to work in Guangzhou. “As long as the subway can reach it, we can go anywhere.”

However, she also pointed out that taking public buses remains inconvenient for visually impaired individuals. Due to the lack of accurate audio guidance, it becomes difficult to confirm bus information, especially when there are few people waiting at the stop to ask. She hopes cities will introduce more convenient solutions in the future, such as leveraging smart transportation systems to provide real-time information that helps visually impaired passengers board buses smoothly.

A city’s care for people with disabilities reflects its governance and warmth. Policy support, social participation and online platforms have diversified employment opportunities, including remote work. China’s 2025–2027 action plan aims to further expand jobs through government-led recruitment, enterprise positions and employment assistance.

For the visually impaired in particular, the plan calls for supporting the establishment of blind medical massage clinics and developing new forms of employment for visually impaired individuals through multiple channels.

Zhang, 33, was born with a visual impairment. She is also Guangzhou’s first locally trained postgraduate with visual disabilities, specialising in social services and social work related to persons with disabilities.

After graduating from university, she founded the Guangzhou Rong’ai Social Service Center (融爱社会服务中心) to provide grassroots support for people with disabilities, advocate for disability-assistance policies and connect them with resources that aid social reintegration.

On skills training and employment support for visually impaired individuals and other special-needs groups, Zhang said that they work with local communities to offer training courses such as tea arts, handicrafts, and e-commerce. More than 40 people have been trained so far, with 12 of them securing jobs, including positions as baristas and tea specialists.

She pointed out that blind massage is still the primary employment channel for visually impaired individuals. Although new types of jobs suitable for this group — such as customer service, livestream hosting, barista work, and clerical roles — have begun to appear, the numbers remain small, and overall job availability is tight.

Feifei, now at the Guangzhou Rong’ai Social Service Center, earned a bachelor’s in massage therapy from Beijing Union University but chose social work instead. She aims to broaden the horizons of visually impaired people, sharing knowledge about employment and daily life.

Feifei also noted that the employment situation for visually impaired individuals is tied to the broader job market. When the economic environment is unfavourable, they face not only shrinking demand but also intense competition within their own group.

Building professional connections between people with disabilities and society at large is of great importance. According to Zhang Qianxin, once people with disabilities secure employment, their self-confidence often improves significantly, and their relationships with family members also tend to strengthen.

Zhang believes that even if ready-made jobs are unavailable, practical opportunities such as internships or traineeships are still very important for people with disabilities. These experiences help them develop social skills, become familiar with social norms, and integrate more smoothly into society.

In recent years, some companies in China have been accelerating the development of technological products designed to address the “pain points” in the daily lives of people with disabilities.

One such product is a mini-app called Voibook Sign Language Translation, which will provide accessibility support at the upcoming 15th National Games of China and the National Special Olympics jointly hosted by Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau. Through this mini-app, hearing-impaired users can tap a button to call for assistance and connect with volunteers on the platform, receiving remote sign-language interpretation support.

The mini-app was launched at the end of last year and currently has around 100 carefully selected sign-language translation volunteers from across China.

Shi Chengchuan, founder and CEO of Voibook Technology, said the company’s mini-app works like a ride-hailing platform, connecting hearing-impaired users with sign-language interpreters and converting speech to text to break real-time communication barriers.

Shi himself is hearing-impaired, having lost his hearing in both ears at the age of 11 due to illness. However, through perseverance and strong academic performance, he was admitted to university. In 2016, he and his partners founded Voibook Technology, using artificial intelligence to improve communication for the hearing-impaired

Projects like Voibook Technology — designed to address the needs of people with disabilities — are emerging across China and opening new markets in niche accessibility sectors. For example, a team of disabled developers in Suzhou has created accessible smart furniture to address the difficulties faced by people with physical disabilities in daily home life.

Some map applications on smartphones have also introduced accessible navigation functions to help wheelchair users avoid road obstacles and locate accessible restrooms quickly. Meanwhile, companies are developing electronic guide dogs that can serve as a “second pair of eyes” for visually impaired individuals, enabling more of them to travel barrier-free in the future.

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “城市有爱心 残障无碍行”.

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