Monday, August 25, 2008

Venues for Beijing Paralympics are ready

According to Xinhua News Agency, Tang Xiaoquan, the president of the China Disabled Person's Federation and the vice chairman of the BOCOG, accepted interviews from foreign and Chinese correspondents at BIMC on August 24. She revealed that all the immovable and barrier-free facilities for Beijing Paralympic had reached the national standard, and 5 of the stadiums had reached the international standard.

Tang also said 16 special bus lines and 400 barrier-free buses would be used for the Paralympics; every stop on the 8 lines and 123 stops would have at least one gateway for a wheelchair to be elevated from the ground to the platform; 42 climbing vehicles and 109 lift platforms were added and the first barrier-free taxi team in China was organized; and the barrier-free traffic has been carried out at the Great Wall, Forbidden City and other important sites.

In addition, the 22 designated hospitals and 16 designated hotels of the Beijing Paralympics have been rebuilt for practical use. The IOC published barrier-free guidebooks and applied wireless hearing aids and video sign language translation software.

There are 20 competing stadiums and 6 independent training stadiums for the Beijing Paralympics in total. These are mainly located in the Olympic Center and on university campuses; and there are relevant operational designs and working plans for their transformation.

By People's Daily Online

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