Preparations for the Games are bringing all kinds of changes to Beijing. Earlier this year, the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center, a China-based NGO, raised concerns about an unexpected threat to the Forbidden City's historical integrity: wheelchair ramps.  Jennifer Conrad explains:

     Additions to the 600-year-old Forbidden City complex, home of Ming and Qing dynasty emperors and the the centerpiece of old Beijing, would help visitors arriving for September's Paralympic Games to maneuver around the site. 

     On its website, the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center expressed concern that the plan to smooth over the paving of the Forbidden City to make it easier for wheelchairs, to lay wooden ramps across high entrance thresholds, and to install elevators to provide access for those with disabilities to the major raised halls "no doubt...all stem from a well-intentioned concern for the rights of disabled people and a desire for China to be a good host for the Paralympics, but we feel that these proposals, if implemented, may damage the Forbidden City structurally, and will certainly detract from the historical authenticity."

    The changes would undoubtedly make the famous site more accessible. Last week, I visited the Forbidden City and wondered how a wheelchair could possibly navigate the complex. There were ridged ramps at wheelchair-unfriendly angles and many, many stairs. I was kind of shocked when I saw a man in a wheelchair right in the middle of the attraction; I asked him how he was getting around. He told me he could walk short distances and climb up stairs. Otherwise, access would be "impossible."

     The government did announce on May 18, National Help-the-Disabled Day, that three barrier-free routes--the longest of which is about 1,000 meters--had been created within the complex and an elevator now bypasses the 100 steps leading to the top of Wumen Tower.

     While the changes should allow more visitors to see the attraction, this story has a happy ending for the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center, too. Because of  its pressure, some of the planned alterations to the Forbidden City will be scaled back and many of the ramps, lifts, and special accommodations for the blind will be temporary and removed after the Paralympics.

     Last Wednesday, I met with He Shuzhong, founder and chairman of the organization. "Now the changes are OK, but I can't completely accept them," he told me. However, he said, "This is a successful case for us, and we see it as a model for the future." But, still, shouldn't the Forbidden City always be accessible to everyone? He says his organization does want the attraction to be accessible, but thinks there are better ways to go about it, such as hiring more workers to help disabled visitors get around and using removable or less-intrusive designs for ramps.

     This isn't the first time preservationists have expressed concerns about the Forbidden City: When the Western coffee chain Starbucks took up residence in one of the buildings, there was a serious backlash. With pressure from bloggers--most notably local TV anchor Rui Chenggang--and conservationists, Starbucks closed that branch last year.

    Why is the UNESCO World Heritage Site under constant threats? "Many Chinese officials don't have confidence in traditional Chinese culture," He explained. "The government thinks everything is a little behind and the old buildings should be taken down to build modern buildings. And the Olympics mean things are happening 10 times faster. Someone needs to remind people to not just be concerned with the latest fashions and becoming international. They don't consider that the Forbidden City is our history--[but] if they ruin the Forbidden City, they ruin our history."

     And while wheelchair advocates may applaud alterations to the tourist site to make the Forbidden City more accessible, the city may have yet more work ahead. In May the Beijing Olympic organizers were criticized for what was considered insensitive wording in a training guide for Olympic assistants. According to a story in the The Times (UK), disabled groups were horrified that the guide said, "Some physically disabled are isolated, unsocial, and introspective. They can be stubborn and controlling." Organizers quickly apologized and recalled the document, saying it would be revised.