According to the 2023 Statistical Bulletin on the Development of Disability Services released by the federation, China is vigorously promoting national standard sign language and national standard Braille.

There are 128 special education regular high schools in the country, with 12,429 students enrolled, including 1,816 partially sighted students.

At a national seminar on partially sighted education held in October last year in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, Ju Sihua, director of the Visual Impairment Education Research Center at Nanjing Normal University of Special Education, pointed out that the scale and demand for partially sighted education in China are significant, yet the quality needs improvement, Xinhua Daily Telegraph reported.

Despite their limited educational background, their commitment to learning is truly remarkable. Apart from attending their regular classes, members of the Running in the Dark Chongqing branch spontaneously share interpretations of Chinese poems via voice messages within their WeChat group.

Their routine physical activities, particularly running, dominate their screens daily — starting as early as 5 am.

This vibrant and life-loving community greatly influences many volunteers.

"I am deeply motivated by their optimism and passion," said 44-year-old Bai Weihua, the volunteer teacher and an escort runner who became part of the group in August 2023.

Bai added that their remarkable learning abilities and proficiency in utilizing modern digital technologies to enrich their learning experiences have set a high benchmark for him, inspiring him to enhance his own efforts.

The branch members conduct training sessions on local sports fields once or twice a month. So far, over 30 members have participated in marathons with the assistance of volunteer escort runners.

After completing a full marathon on Dec 1, Yu Chun, Deng's husband, has become the fastest marathon runner among the group. His time for the 2024 Shanghai Marathon was 4 hours and 8 minutes.

In the same event, Chen Hong, 50, and Lei Na, 40, from the group made history as the first partially sighted couple in China to finish a full marathon.

Contact the writers at [email protected]