Para games highlight drive toward a barrier-free society

A woman returns a wheelchair to a self-service vending machine that provides rehabilitative equipment in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. [Photo provided to China Daily]
The host city has been pioneering changes that benefit disabled athletes, residents and visitors. Cheng Si reports from Hangzhou.

In modern China, people have become accustomed to self-service convenience stores, where consumer goods can be obtained 24 hours a day.

Now, Hangzhou, capital of the eastern province of Zhejiang, has gone a step further by setting up a self-serving vending machine that meets people's urgent needs for rehabilitative and assistive equipment. The facility provides assistance for disabled people and helps develop a barrier-free society.

The machine, on Cuiyuan Street, has 12 cells that store devices, including wheelchairs, crutches and walking frames, that can all be leased on a short-term basis.

"People can scan the QR code on the machine to register and check the device's status — whether it has been rented or is still available — then borrow it after paying a deposit, ranging from 50 yuan to 400 yuan ($7 to $55) depending on the equipment," said Qiu Ping, who is responsible for disabled people's affairs at the Cuiyuan subdistrict administrative office.

"Borrowers are allowed to use the device free of charge for a maximum of three months, then they receive messages reminding them to return it. Their deposit will not be refunded if the equipment is not returned at the correct time."

Qiu said the machine was put into use in August, and so far about 140 items have been borrowed and returned.

The move is an example of Hangzhou's efforts in recent years to promote and optimize a barrier-free environment as authorities worked to assist disabled competitors in the 4th Asian Para Games and also people living in or visiting the city.