PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE: A guide dog accompanies its owner in a subway station in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province (CFP)

"People praised the guide dogs' outstanding performance, which was encouraging for me," Wang said.

So far, the Dalian center has successfully trained and found suitable owners for 60 of their dogs and it is still the only guide dog training center in China that has been authorized by the CDPF.

In May 2009, a guide dog training center was set up in Dongying, east China's Shandong Province, and in September that same year, another such center was established in Zhengzhou, capital city of central China's Henan Province. However, neither of these centers have CDPF's authorization.

In April 2011, the Zhengzhou Guide Dog Training Center sent Ami, their first dog, to its owner. The first guide dog from the Dongying center is expected to begin working with its owner in early 2014.

Henan Province announced on December 16, 2013 that it would invest around 30 million yuan ($4.96 million) to establish the largest guide dog training center in China. The new center is expected to begin operations at the end of 2014.

Not easy insistence

"The cost for training a guide dog is about 150,000 yuan ($24,800) right now," Wang said. "But visually impaired people can take them home for almost nothing at all."

Funding is something of a concern for Wang and his colleagues. Wang uses his own money to keep the China Guide Dog Training Center operational, and has even gone as far as selling his apartment.

In 2011, the Dalian Municipal Government allocated 960,000 yuan ($158,600) for the training center and pledged to reimburse it 60,000 yuan ($9,910) for each dog trained and adopted.

"But this is far from enough, and the center still has a deficit of more than 400,000 yuan ($66,100)," Wang said. " Many trainers quit over the past few years, because their wages just weren't enough to make ends meet. The remaining trainers persevere because of their pure passion."

Wang Xin has been working at the center as a trainer for three years. She, like Wang Jingyu, studied in Japan for nine years, though while there she obtained a master's degree in phycology, the study of algae. Before joining the center, she worked at a Japanese company and earned more than 10,000 yuan ($1,650) a month. But after she saw how helpful having a guide dog was for her mother, she decided to become a guide dog trainer.

"Nobody understood my decision, including my mother," Wang Xin said. "But I love my job."

Wang Xin's first year at the center was a lot harder than she thought it was going to be. "It was frustrating when the dogs didn't follow my instructions, and the wages were just enough for basic living costs," she said. "Some college graduates quit after a week or a month. But if you make it through the first year, you will feel better."

Another concern facing guide dog training facilities in China is the professional and public support available to them. According to Wang Jingyu, Chinese universities and colleges have no courses on guide dog training. Although some graduates have majored in zoology, they have to learn how to train guide dogs by themselves as what they studied isn't relevant.

"China doesn't have a lot of affection for large dogs and many people are scared of them. China also lacks appropriate facilities for large dogs," Wang Jingyu said.

A national law that took effect in 2008 recognizes the right of visually impaired people to use guide dogs and stipulates that such dogs are permitted on public transport and in public venues as long as they observe the rules.

Additonally, the Barrier-Free Environment Construction Regulations came into force on August 1, 2012. Article 16 states that "visually impaired people bringing their guide dogs into public places shall follow the relevant regulations of the state. Staff working in public places shall supply unimpeded access to them."

However, the situation has not changed much in spite of the legal clauses. Guide dogs are still often barred from getting on buses and subways, or entering stores, markets and other public venues in most Chinese cities.

"Guide dogs are still new in China," Wang Jingyu said. "We believe that people will be more understanding toward guide dogs in the future, but it will take time."

Email us at: yuanyuan@bjreview.com