Seeing the city with hands

Blind woman Niu Liyun touches a sculpture with the aid of volunteers. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Volunteers help blind people buy tickets and enter the subway. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Last October, Li Kaihong felt his way to the Potala Palace in Tibet Autonomous Region and hitchhiked back to Beijing.

The young masseur has limited vision. He can see silhouettes within a meter but nothing beyond that distance. On his return to Beijing he walked slowly and had to constantly use his hands to feel what was in front of him, but he never gave up.

"Some friends heard I wanted to go to Tibet and said you can't go. I wanted to prove to them that I can do it," he told the Global Times. With the same determination, he came to the Xinjiekou subway station, ready to tackle Beijing.

Last Sunday, 17 blind people and 17 volunteers participated in an event, "Listening to the City," hosted by the China Youth Travel Service, Beijing subway and Hongdandan, an NGO that serves blind people.

The volunteers led the blind people to the Huguosi commercial street, Mei Lanfang Memorial Museum and the Old Summer Palace, helping them to listen to and touch the city, while describing it to them on the way.

Peng Zheng, deputy director of Hongdandan, said he hopes such activities can help the blind people in the city and give them courage.

"I heard a story of a blind couple who stayed home all the time, because they were afraid of getting lost," he said. "The door to the world may be open, but the door to their hearts was closed."

The volunteers are recruited on social media. They held their partners' hands while walking and described the details of what they saw to them, from the styles of the houses, to the brands of the cars, to a child petting a dog by the street corner.

Ding Haiying, another blind masseur, has participated in two previous trips, one to the ocean and one to the grasslands. He said that he doesn't get out much, usually only to the parks near his home, which is why he was so keen to participate.

"Every place we went to, we want to get to know the structure, environment and scenery through the volunteers' eyes and descriptions, so that we can remember it and try to come here again in the future," he said.