We have been told she is currently residing at the Zhangshu Social Welfare Institute in Jiangxi Province.
Jiangxi is shown on the map below in pink in the south east section of the country. It is said to be a beautiful area with tall mountains and fresh water lakes. The climate is warm and humid in summer and cold in spring and winter (I checked out the temps on weather.com, I think we'll get lucky at the beginning of December, not too hot, not too cold) Jiangxi is home to Poyang Lake which is the largest fresh water lake in China and has a large habitat of white cranes. The province is best known for porcelain **I think there's some serious shopping potential here!!!**
Zhangshu City is in the center of Jiangxi Province. The area where the orphanage is located is quite poor with many families involved in the farming of rice. The entire city has a population of 536,000 (which seems like a lot to me!). The orphanage is said to be a rather small one with a very small IA program. One family who traveled in 3/08 said there were only about 20 children there at that time. It seems, and I could be wrong, that they only place a few children per year. The families that have adopted from the orphanage have said that the director cares a great deal for the children and that they are generally very well cared for (what a relief!!). The nannies live with the children with 3 cribs and one nanny per room. I have a feeling she is going to be very attached to her nanny. This is great for attachment to the adoptive parents but very, very hard at first for the grieving child.
Here is a picture I found of the Zhangshu SWI on the net:
It seems that children are received in Nanchang which is a large city about 1 to 1-1/2 hrs to the north. Some families have been able to visit the orphanage and others have not. I would like to do this if at all possible. Even if aren't able to go into the orphanage, I'd like to at least see the area where Baby G spent her first mos of life. We'll have to see if this will be possible.
5 comments:
If you are interested, I have a list of our favorite things to do in Nanchang (which is where you will receive your daughter). You are correct, the porcelain shopping is amazing in your daughter's province. I don't want to stalk you, but feel free to contact me for more information on your daughter's province and Nanchang. We were just there in March and I kept a list for other adoptive families who were going after us. Best wishes.
Kim K.
kenwardk@gmail.com
kenward.blogspot.com
Congratulations. Popped over here from RQ. We were in Nanchang in June. VERY hot city. VERY hot.
If you have other children that are going with you, the People's Park in Nanchang has 'Human Hampster Balls' that they may get a kick out of trying.
Hopefully it won't be as hot in Dec as it was in June!!
We were in Jiangxi in 2005 to adopt our daughter and really enjoyed it. I hope you do as well. Just remember to relax and take in everything. It is a trip of a lifetime.
Our Sarah is from Jiangxi and we stayed in Nanchang for a little over a week at the Gloria Grand. It was such a great city for us to visit first - such a difference from so.cal. (we lived there at the beginning of our adoption journey) There are so many new sights and smells. You are going to have such a great time! I'll be following your blog to see where you stay in Nanchang - if you stay at Gloria Grand there is a beautiful pavillion within walking distance. She is quite a beauty! The guides will likely take you to a government shop where you can pick up lots of porceilian (I know I spelled that wrong) We got some beautiful vases for our girls when they are older.
Congrats on your referral! She's quite cute. Make sure you stop by Tiffanie's Place in Nanchang (it's across from the Gloria and down the street from Tan Wan) for a free finding ad. We stayed across town and the taxi ride was well worth it!
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