Charities and social groups help promote a new vision of equality

As the world marks the 34th White Cane Day, a growing number of blind and visually impaired people in China are pushing for more options in employment and education. Li Lei reports.

Editor's note: This is the first of two stories about developments in the lives of blind and visually impaired people. The second story will be published next month.

Cai Cong vividly remembers the sense of disillusion he felt on his first day at college in 2005. The then-19-year-old had enrolled at a special college in Jilin province, Northeast China, which was one of the few in the country that offered undergraduate programs for visually impaired students like him.