The campaign "Barrier-free, with Love" encourages disabled people to visit tourist attractions. Volunteers from the University of Science & Technology in Beijing help a disabled tourist up a slope in the Forbidden City, October 30, 2010. [CnDG by Jiao Meng]

Nine disabled people were able to experience the autumn scenery in Beijing when they toured the Forbidden City in wheelchairs on October 30, assisted by 22 volunteers.

The campaign "Barrier free, with Love", was organized by the Beijing Enable Disability Studies Institute, an NGO that campaigns for barrier-free infrastructure construction in China and to raise public awareness of disabled people.

All the tourists and volunteers were recruited on the Internet. The volunteers received special training on how to use wheelchairs correctly and understand the needs of the disabled tourists.

Li Wei, the program manager, explained the purpose of the campaign: "Barrier free infrastructure was built on a huge scale in Beijing in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games. They even removed some steps from the Forbidden City. But it was far from enough to enable disabled people to go out and visit these places freely. We are dedicated to encouraging the disabled to boldly go out, assisted by the loving care of our volunteers."

Mr. Cheng, a worker in the Forbidden City, said there is room for improvement in the barrier-free infrastructure currently in place. "It takes three to five minutes to carry one passenger up a staircase using a stepping machine. The machine can't be used on rainy days and needs to be re-charged after being used five times."