Xinfeng Orphanage

2004-05-17 - My trip was awesome! Although we did not venture out of Nanchang while in Jiangxi, it was a wonderful experience. My only regret is that I did not get to see the countryside or region from which my daughter came. We met the orphanage director and the nannies who took care of the girls (only two families - myself and one other). We learned that the orphanage was small, with only about 40 children in it, and that many children are fostered. It was unclear to me whether the children were fostered by staff or other families. The area was described by the director as pretty and rural, famous for its oranges and orange groves. I would love to see it someday. It is referred to as Xinfeng County, and I have learned that the Chinese often call a small town or village a county, different usage from how we define the term.

My daughter was very healthy when I met her (11 months, almost one year). She was cruising around furniture, but not walking. She was obviously well fed, clean (the clothes were a bit ragged), and had formed a close bond with her caregiver and/or foster mother. Her caregiver was slow to hand her over; she had visible tears in her eyes at the handover and at the notary's office the next day. My daughter grieved appropriately, and was extremely orally defensive for the entire trip, refusing to drink from a bottle or sippy cup. I just fed her lots of watermelon, fruit, and soup with noodles so she wouldn't dehydrate. I did take her to the Canadian-American International clinic in the Garden Hotel in Guangzhou to make sure nothing serious was behind the behavior. Just control issues and stress, I think.

One thing that came out while I was there is that her birthmother wrote the name she gave her when she was born (Jiang Xiao Lan) on a note, but the orphanage changed her name at intake to Xing Fu Yu (the other baby who was adopted from there was named Xing Fu Yue!). So now my challenge is to change her name legally to reflect her birth name.

She is growing well and is still very healthy. She started drinking bottles after we got home and settled in, and is very happy. She has no sleep issues, and sleeps through the night in her crib in her own room. She has started walking independently and is trying to talk as well. She turned 15 months yesterday. (LW)

2004-03-03 - A family received a referral for a child from this orphanage in January 2004.  This was the referral from this orphanage I had heard about.  On the map Xinfeng is located in southern Jiangxi, about an hour south of Ganzhou.  From the family after their adoption in March 2004:  My daughter, who turned one while we were in China, is a joy!  Xinfeng is in the rural southern part of Jiangxi province, not too far from the Guangdong border. It is famous for its oranges. The babies had to take a 6-hour train ride to meet us in Nanchang, and the director told us that there were only 40 children in the orphanage. Also, it was the first time that international adoptions had been conducted by this SWI. (LW)

In June 2004 I heard from a family with a referral from here in May 2004 and another one in June 2004. 

If anyone has adopted from this orphanage or has information about this town or orphanage we'd love to hear from you.

Xing Quan Ying	Xing Fujuan	Your Child	Your Child
Born 9/2/03	Born 11/9/02	CLICK	CLICK
Adopted 7/25/04	Adopted 2/2/04	HERE	HERE

There is now an email list for families who have or are waiting to adopt from Xinfeng. You can subscribe by sending a message to Xinfeng-Families-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

A families trip experience and pictures

How You Can Help the Children Still in the Jiangxi Province Orphanages!!

Find an address for this orphanage
(and print out an address label in Chinese) at http://www.blessedkids.com/index_files/addresses.htm

Please e-mail me at webmaster@gurrad.com if you have any additional information or if your child is from here and you would like to post a picture or other information here.