Hong Kong can be a nightmare for travelers with disabilities. City sidewalks -- especially in Central and Kowloon -- can be so jampacked that getting around on crutches or in a wheelchair is exceedingly difficult. Moreover, to cross busy thoroughfares it's often necessary to climb stairs to a pedestrian bridge or use an underground tunnel. Also, most shops are a step or two up from the street, due to flooding during rainstorms.
As for transportation, taxis are probably the most convenient mode of transportation, especially since they can load and unload passengers with disabilities in restricted zones under certain conditions and do not charge extra for carrying wheelchairs and crutches. Otherwise, the MTR (subway) has wheelchair access (elevators, ramps, or other aids) at major stations, as well as tactile pathways leading to platforms and exits for the visually impaired. Ferries are accessible to wheelchair users on the lower deck, and approximately 41% of buses are wheelchair accessible. More information is available from the Transport Department, Floor 41, Immigration Tower, 7 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai (tel. 852/2804 2660; www.td.gov.hk), which publishes a booklet called A Guide to Public Transport for People with Disabilities, which can also be downloaded online. Another good source is the Joint Council for the Physically and Mentally Disabled/Hong Kong Council of Social Services, which published the Hong Kong Guide for Disabled Visitors in 1998. Though dated, it provides wheelchair accessibility for hotels, consulates, museums, restaurants, shopping malls, performing venues and more and is available online at www.hkcss.org.hk/rh/accessguide or at offices of the Hong Kong Tourism Board.
U.S. organizations that offer assistance to travelers with disabilities include MossRehab (www.mossresourcenet.org); the American Foundation for the Blind (tel. 800/232-5463; www.afb.org); and SATH (Society for Accessible Travel & Hospitality; tel. 212/447-7284; www.sath.org). AirAmbulanceCard.com is now partnered with SATH and allows you to preselect top-notch hospitals in case of an emergency.
