200-day countdown celebrations to Hangzhou Asian Para Games in Tangqi Photo: HAPGOC
By Jin Yingying Fang Jingyi
March 23 marked the 200-day countdown to the 4th Asian Para Games Hangzhou 2022, with a series of celebrations staged that night at Tangqi Ancient Town of Hangzhou's Linping District.
The Asian Para Games is held once in every four years for athletes with physical disabilities after the Asian Games. The first one was held in 2010 in Guangzhou, China.
Themed "Hearts Meet, Dreams Shine (Chinese: 心相约，梦闪耀)," the Hangzhou Asian Para Games is set to be held from October 9 to 15. Up to now, 22 sports have been confirmed for the Games, with 564 gold medals to be awarded.
"Feifei", the mascot of the 2022 Asian Para Games, is inspired by the "Divine Bird" in Liangzhu Culture, representing the city's heritage and its drive for the technological innovation.
"Laurels", the torch design of the Games, originates from the ancient jade Cong unearthed in Liangzhu, which is a relic marking the 5,000-year-old Chinese civilization, and from the flower of the city, sweet osmanthus, which symbolizes the Games concept of "sunshine, harmony, self-improvement and sharing".
Celebrations to welcome the Games
More significant information about the 4th Asian Para Games was unveiled on March 23.
The intelligent sign language platform for the 4th Asian Para Games was launched on the day. Developed by Alibaba's DAMO Academy, the platform creates an intelligent AI sign language interpreter, "Xiao Mo". It can recognize and broadcast sign language and will act as a barrier-free communication tool during the 4th Asian Para Games Hangzhou 2022.
China Goalball Training Base Tangqi venue has been officially put into use on March 23. The venue has been equipped with barrier-free facilities to fulfill the needs of the visually impaired athletes. Starting from the foyer of the arena, the roads lead to each functional room and the competition venue are equipped with tactile pavings. The doors are equipped with voice alert announcers that can automatically sense the athletes and remind them that they have entered a certain area. In addition, the venue also has a rest area for guiding dogs.
The Games' organizing committee oversaw the celebrations, unveiled the Games' countdown installation, and started a campaign that will see over a thousand cultural and sports activities being hosted in communities and neighborhoods.
Go all out for final preparations
Final preparations are being made. Construction work on 19 venues has been completed, 17 of which are also used in the Asian Games and two are built specifically for the Asian Para Games.
36 accessible restrooms and 108 accessible toilet seats in the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium and Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Tennis Centre have been renovated. A Chinese-English voice guide system has been installed in each accessible restroom to quickly help visually impaired people find facilities. In addition, 98 pedestal pans, nearly 600 handrails and grips were replaced, and 35 accessible elevators, 5 accessible stairs, and 3 accessible ramps were optimized.
In addition, China Goalball Training Base, Hangzhou Wenhui School Lawn Bowls Green, and other Asian Para Games venues have been completed to meet the accessibility requirements of the Beijing Winter Paralympics.
The Media Village of the Hangzhou Asian Games provides accommodation services for athletes and accompanying officials during the Asian Para Games. The rooms for the athletes are equipped with complete accessible facilities, and all roads in the Village are wheelchair friendly.
Barrier-free facilities
built up across the city
Hangzhou has speeded up the construction of the supporting infrastructures across the city. New measures for the construction and management of accessible environments were complemented last year to make the city disabled-friendly.
Particular parking lots for the disabled will be added to seven metro stations in Binjiang District. The ongoing renovation of tactile pavings in Binjiang district will assist vision-impaired pedestrians. All the tiles are replaced at the intersections or the tuning points to meet the standard. Up to now, 1,767 sites have been renewed with barriers removed.
The city's first vehicle-mounted portaloo was installed not long ago in Xihu District.
An electric wheelchair lifting platform is configured on the right side of the vehicle to help people in a wheelchair get on the car. An independent toilet for the disabled is installed at the rear, with handrails around the pot. Compared with traditional ones, this one can be quickly dispatched, precisely moved into place and into regular use.
More barrier-free facilities can be found at the Administrative Service Center of Xihu District. Three service desks are lowered and equipped with barrier-free screen readers and headphones that can provide the online voice prompting services for the visually impaired. The renovation of five accessible elevators has just been completed and 24 officials have received the sign language training. The hearing impaired can also communicate with the staff by using the online sign language interpreters.