Blind leading the blind

You don't have to be blind to not see blind people in Beijing.

The government appears to have spent a tidy sum making bumpy journeys throughout the city but witnessing them being used is bizarrely rare. I have lived in Beijing for five years now and not once have I seen a blind person walking on the street. Worse than that, I didn't even question it, until now.

A thought immediately struck my mind; how many blind people live in this city? A quick call to the Beijing disabled person's center revealed that a national survey conducted in 2006 put the figure at 67,000. Naturally, I tend to treat such statistics with caution and sought external confirmation.