A sidewalk for the visually-impaired in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/hangzhou2022.cn]

If you have seen Xu Haiqing, 45, jogging or playing basketball in his neighborhood, you would hardly notice he is visually-impaired and exercise has played a vital role in his daily life.

Xu's eyesight began to decline when he was young. When he applied for a disability certificate in 2010, his corrected vision was just 0.05 and he could see only blurry outlines at close range.

"Sports have helped me get through the days and take back control of my life," Xu said. "Throw me a blind stick now and I would be able to go anywhere in Hangzhou."

There are currently 130,000 visually-impaired people with disability certificates in Zhejiang. In recent years, the Zhejiang Provincial Disabled Persons' Federation has been dedicated to improving accessible facilities to meet the diversified needs of the population.

In Linping and Shangcheng districts of Hangzhou, cricket is gaining popularity among visually-impaired groups, while in Qiantang district, the swimming team that has recently finished preparing is expected to allow visually-impaired people to enjoy the feeling of being in the water.

"The improvement of various sports and facilities is of great help to visually-impaired people. We hope they can open their hearts and broadly express their need for exercise," said Liu Weiping, secretary of the Zhejiang Association for the Blind.

Xu is a beneficiary and promoter of such efforts. He has joined the Hangzhou Barrier-free Promotion Association to help test accessible facilities, recording details and reporting to technicians for optimization.

Visually-impaired people exercise in Hangzhou. [Photo/hangzhou2022.cn]