China’s blind await the year of the guide dog
Of 5 million blind Chinese, just 200 are lucky enough to have a guide dog. And even those who do face constant barriers to travelling with their companion
Chen Yan is not an ideal guest for most hotels in China. Instead of being welcomed by receptionists, she is often stopped at the front door. Her latest rejection came when she travelled to the southern Chinese city of Wenchang for business last week. The problem? Chen, a piano tuner, is blind: she wanted to check in with her guide dog.
“I told the hotel Jenny is a certified service dog, but they said no dogs were allowed in their hotel,” Chen recalls. Their exchange of words went on for some time and it was only when Chen called the local tourism industry association for help that the hotel relented and allowed her companion a room.
It was not the first time Chen had argued with someone over Jenny, a 9-year-old black Labrador retriever, and it will probably not be the last. By law, registered guide dogs have been allowed in public areas since China amended the Law on the Protection of the Disabled Persons in 2008. But every visually impaired Chinese This Week in Asia spoke to had been the target of discrimination because of their dog in one way or another. Some had been prevented from seeing a doctor by Chinese hospitals citing “hygiene issues” related to their furry best friends; others had been turned down by restaurants.
Across the nation, “it is not rare to see guide dogs remaining unwelcome in public places”, says Liang Jia, who works at China’s main guide dog training centre in the coastal city of Dalian.
The public’s reluctance to accept service dogs underscores China’s mixed record at improving the lives of its disabled citizens.