Society needs to care more for the disabled

Still intoxicated with the great success of the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese capital is now entertaining itself and the world with the equally eye-catching Paralympic Games. If an Olympics means to the host country or host city an opportunity to elevate its material and spiritual civilizations, the hosting of the Paralympics, the world's second largest sport event, will transmit an important message to the whole world that disabled persons should get more care and the cause of the disabled should get more attention.

Beijing is fully prepared for the sport event. For the successful holding of the largest-ever Paralympics in the event's history, featuring 4,000 athletes from 148 countries and regions, the municipal government has added a lot of accessible facilities to some scenic spots, hotels, banks and public places or rebuilt their facilities originally not designed for disabled persons into barrier-free ones.

To create a barrier-free environment citywide for the Games, the municipal government has also taken a series of measures, such as opening hundreds of barrier-free bus routes, installing ramps in some places for the convenience of disabled persons and allowing the use of guide dogs. The improvement or installment of such accessible facilities was beyond imagination a few years ago even in Beijing, not to mention other less developed regions.