A special car wash facility opened recently in Xining, the capital city of Qinghai province. What is special about this car wash is that its 14 employees are all mentally disabled. Such a car wash, established by a local disabled persons' federation, aims to encourage the employment of mentally disabled people.

Pei Jinyu, an instructor at a local service center for the mentally disabled, said that a total of 14 employees are working in the car wash after 50 days of training. The ages of the employees range from 16 to 28. A wash usually takes between 25 and 30 minutes.

According to an instructor, after learning the story of this facility, many warm-hearted people have driven more than 30 kilometers to support the business. The car wash has served about 600 customers in one month, though the revenue doesn't cover the employees' salaries. Instead, the operation is subsidized by the disabled persons' federation. Despite the business's failure to turn a profit, all the employees are secure in the knowledge that their salaries will increase if they give outstanding performances in the future.

"We are not only training them for a job, we are also providing life skills," said Liu Hongwei, the director of a local job center that specializes in disabled applicants. Liu expressed his hope that more people would support the welfare of the disabled, and offer them opportunities to live independently.