An ancient architecture with sun mao structure in the Palace Museum in Beijing Photo: VCG

The misuse of accessibility services at popular tourist destinations has received increasing public and media attention. This behavior, where individuals who do not need them take advantage of these services, not only misuses resources intended for vulnerable groups but also undermines fairness and order in public spaces. This draws attention to the need for both visitors to act responsibly and management teams to implement stricter rules to enhance the visitor experience.

Recently, some visitors have started renting wheelchairs to simplify security checks and save time by using accessibility lanes or priority channels at popular tourist spots such as the Forbidden City in Beijing and Shanghai Disney Resort despite not needing these services. This has stirred public discussion and caught media attention. 

"Renting a wheelchair not only spares your legs but also gives you the opportunity to skip the line. Totally worth it!" On social media, some posts, often accompanied by photos of individuals who appear to have no mobility challenges, are promoting such loophole-exploiting practices. 

While some commenters have expressed genuine interest in renting wheelchairs for elderly family members who face difficulties navigating crowded tourist spots, others strongly criticized the behavior of those who abuse accessibility services. They called these actions selfish and unfair, emphasizing that these facilities are meant to assist those with genuine needs.

This is not the first time wheelchairs have been associated with queue-jumping at hot tourist spots. In August, reports about renting a wheelchair to skip lines at the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, sparked heated discussion. According to Huashang Daily, a netizen shared a video showing that for 260 yuan ($35.62), visitors could rent a wheelchair, skip the lines, and even get assistance from staff to push the wheelchair. 

In reaction, Shanghai Disney Resort has updated its wheelchair policy, effective December 10, to better accommodate guests with mobility needs while enhancing park safety. 

At popular attractions, long queues are sometimes unavoidable, particularly during summer and winter holidays or during special exhibitions. However, orderly queuing should be a fundamental part of civilized visitor behavior. Accessibility lanes are meant to provide necessary convenience for the disabled, elderly, and other vulnerable groups in society. When visitors who do not need them pretend to have mobility issues to exploit these lanes, they save time and effort for themselves but essentially engage in queue-jumping. This violates basic rules and ethics.

To address this, management should consider refining verification procedures to prevent the misuse of accessibility lanes. For instance, in addition to serving visibly elderly visitors, staff could require middle-aged individuals without obvious mobility issues to provide additional documentation, such as a disability certificate to ensure the proper use of these lanes. At the same time, the process must include humane communication to avoid causing inconvenience to those who genuinely need assistance.

Meanwhile, tourist spot management teams may also consider efforts to enhance the tourist experience while waiting in line. 

For instance, Harbin, the capital of China's northernmost province of Heilongjiang, has emerged as one of the top tourist destinations during winter. Some tourist spots have been offering heating pads to keep visitors warm while standing in line. 

Hengdian World Studios, a major film production base in East China's Zhejiang Province, has enhanced the visitor experience during peak seasons by implementing several measures such as expanded ticketing channels with additional lanes and extended queuing areas, and assigning staff to guide visitor flow. Dedicated entry lanes have been established for different groups, such as tour groups with special lanes arranged for events when necessary, the base told the Global Times.

"We have also organized song and dance performances in waiting areas to keep visitors entertained," said the base.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. life@globaltimes.com.cn