Pic story of having a meal in darkness in restaurant Trojan Fairy in Beijing

Restaurant founder Yu Shuang (L) instructs as diners try to read and write Braille at the restaurant in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 24, 2023.

At Xidan in the very heart of Beijing, restaurant Trojan Fairy, is not an ordinary eatery because the diners can find their way to their tables only through the help of an usher, in complete dark.

Yang Demin, the pianist and part-time usher of Trojan Fairy, is now a student at the music department of the Special Education College of Beijing Union University. Yang, with no sense of the light, can accurately locate the table for diners in the restaurant.

Yu Shuang, a former surgeon, founded Trojan Fairy in 2009. Yu, once a short period patient of retinal detachment, though cured, set up the restaurant in order to enable customers to have a brief impression on how the visually impaired people feel everyday.

She provides jobs for the disabled with the hope to help them fit into the society. More than 130 visually impaired and over 40 intellectually or physically disabled people have worked here, part-time or full-time, as purchasing staff, waiters, cooks and even managers of the restaurant. With years of working experiences here, feeling being needed and respected, some of them took on various new roles as music teachers, employees of internet firms or students abroad.

Zhou Haoyu, the present manager of the restaurant, formally a part-time pianist and an usher in the past eight years, himself suffering a weak sense of light, is a good example of how a visually impaired people find a better positon in the society. Thanks to the working experiences at the restaurant, Zhou is now studying after an established musician, he also works as an instructor on vocal music at an art training agency.

Yu Shuang hopes that a meal in darkness can serve as a chance for people to start to know more about the disabled, as well as to cherish the blessings of their own life. (Xinhua/Yin Gang)

Restaurant founder Yu Shuang (1st, R), visually impaired Yang Demin (2nd,R), physically disabled He Ning (3rd, R) and visually impaired Zhi Ming (4th, R) make dumplings in the kitchen of Trojan Fairy on the occasion of winter solstice in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 22, 2023. (Xinhua/Yin Gang)

This combo photo shows diners preparing to enter Trojan Fairy under the guidance of an usher in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 24, 2023 (above) and a view of diners entering Trojan Fairy under the guidance of an usher, captured with a thermal imaging camera, in Beijing, Dec. 24, 2023 (below). (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

This photo taken by a thermal imaging camera shows diners trying to touch each other's finger in the complete dark at Trojan Fairy in complete darkness in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

This photo taken by a thermal imaging camera shows a waiter serving dishes at Trojan Fairy in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

This combo photo taken by a thermal imaging camera shows people dining at Trojan Fairy in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Yin Gang)

This combo photo shows Zhi Ming (R) and her lover Yang Demin, both visually impaired employees, leaving Special Education College of Beijing Union University in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 22, 2023 (above) and Zhi Ming (2nd, R) and Yang Demin waiting for a subway on the platform in Beijing, Dec. 22, 2023 (middle) and Zhi Ming (R) and Yang Demin arriving at Trojan Fairy in Beijing, Dec. 22, 2023 (below). They work as music performers and ushers at Trojan Fairy. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

Zhi Ming, a visually impaired employee, makes dumplings in the kitchen of Trojan Fairy in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 22, 2023. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

Zhi Ming (L) and Yang Demin, both visually impaired employees, perform at Trojan Fairy in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 22, 2023. (Xinhua/Yin Gang)

This combo photo shows Zhou Haoyu, visually impaired employee, smelling the bread he makes at Trojan Fairy in Beijing, capital of China, June 5, 2019 (above) and Zhou accompanying a student on the piano at a training agency for art examinations in Beijing, Jan. 17, 2024 (below, Xinhua/Cai Yang). (Xinhua)

This undated combo photo shows some of the visually impaired people that once worked at Trojan Fairy in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua)

Visually impaired Zhou Haoyu demonstrates the lyrics of Italian songs recorded in Braille, in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)