Han Ying is director of the Shanghai Guangyingzhisheng Accessible Film-and-television Culture-development Centre. In March 2014, she began studying English at Shanghai Open University, and graduated in July 2016.

She had given up teaching, but not hope, after losing her sight to illness in 2006. She insisted on studying, obtaining a Bachelor degree in Chinese Language and Literature from East China Normal University in 2011, and becoming the first blind person from Shanghai to take the national higher-education independent-study examination. She was also the first blind woman to qualify for English-interpreting certification, and the first blind person to pass the Shanghai Municipal People's Insurance Bureau typing examination. National leaders such as General Secretary Xi Jinping have recognised her, and she has been named a “National Self-improvement Model”, a “Shanghai March 8th Red-banner Pace-setter”, and a “Xuhui District Ethical Model”.

Learning need never end. In 2013, Han Ying, with the support of the School for the Disabled of Shanghai Open University, applied to the OUC for undergraduate studies, and was personally approved by Yang Zhijian, then president of the OUC. In the spring of 2014, Han Ying and several other blind students became business-English majors at Shanghai Open University’s Putuo Campus, and the first blind undergraduates in Shanghai.

In the following two-and-a-half years, Han Ying came to class every day with her guide dog regardless of the weather to study with ordinary students. The school has special electronic textbooks for blind students, and the teachers had made modifications to their teaching. Nonetheless, her visual impairment made learning difficult. In the reading-comprehension course, for example, it was not only the reading that was difficult but also the listening, since being blind made her unable to use the visual props sighted students have, and forced her to give extra time and energy to the same tasks. Nonetheless, she not only completed every task, but achieved excellent results.

In order to obtain an undergraduate OUC diploma, she was required to pass the tests for two online courses, Computer Science and College English A. But how could a blind student take an online test? In the end, after an appeal, and with the support of the Disabled Persons' Federation and other parties, the MOE made special arrangements for her testing, a great step forward for all blind students. 2016 witnessed her third application for a similar dispensation on the Business English graduation test, and this time received support from the main examination unit, Beijing University of International Business and Economics. In June of that year, she and two other blind students passed the examination and obtained Bachelor degrees.

Han Ying’s teachers and classmates were touched by her desire for self-improvement, and through her a breakthrough in the lifelong education of the blind was achieved.

In 2016, on the eve of graduation, Han Ying registered the charitable organisation already mentioned, and with the support of radio and television stations, film producers, and volunteers from all walks of life began to make accessible movies for a range of disabled viewers.

On the "Guangyingzhisheng" platform, sections of films without dialogue are described in detail, allowing tens of thousands of visually-impaired viewers in Shanghai to enjoy them. In 2018, this platform and Shanghai Radio and Television jointly launched a campaign to bring accessible films to students of 18 schools for the disabled across the country. More than 2,000 disabled students benefited from this, and so far “Guangyingzhisheng” has produced more than 140 high-quality accessible movies, enriching the spiritual and cultural lives of many disabled people.

For Han Ying, the concern and help of others has made her successful, and she is determined to do her best to give back to society.

Her deeds have attracted widespread attention, and have been covered by media outlets such as Wenhui Daily, Liberation Daily, Xinmin Evening News, China Women’s Daily, and Youth Daily. They have twice been reported on CCTV’s “Morning News”, and Shanghai TV, the Shanghai Foreign Language Channel, and Shanghai People’s Broadcasting Station have also broadcast special reports. The Publicity Department of the Shanghai Municipal Committee shot a short film called "The Light in the Heart" based on her accomplishments; it starred Han Ying herself, and was broadcast on multiple TV channels.

In 2014, Han Ying was named a “National Self-improvement Model” and received by central-committee leaders, including general secretary Xi Jinping. In the Great Hall of the People, she gave a report to the Party and state leaders, as well as provincial representatives from across the country. In 2015, she was named a “Shanghai March 8th Red-banner Pace-setter”, and in 2018 an "Ethical Model" by public vote.

Han Ying is also very talented at giving speeches and readings, writing essays, and so on; she has won awards at numerous competitions. Her experience and talent inspire us, and we are pleased to see how much, in today’s harmonious society, people with disabilities are able to participate in society, being self-reliant, able to improve themselves, and even to become entrepreneurs.

By OUC Voice WeChat Official Account