Yi Xiaoyuan: Improving access for disabled people

Yi Xiaoyuan, a wheelchair user, has never let his physical condition hold him back.

The graduate student at Tsinghua University in Beijing is now working to ensure that more disabled people will have the opportunity to try their best and create their own futures.

The 28-year-old was born in Yuxi, 90 kilometers south of Kunming, capital of the southwestern province of Yunnan. At the age of 6, he developed rheumatoid arthritis, which affected his growth, and also had a bone disorder that became progressively more debilitating. By age 11, his legs were so frail that walking was excruciatingly painful. As a result, he began using a wheelchair.