Taihe

It's just in the second half of 1998 that I've begun to hear of adoptions from this orphanage and there have only been a small number so far. Very little information about the city or orphanage has been gathered. The city is located between Ji'an and Ganzhou which are cities that other children have been adopted from. We'd love to hear from anyone who has adopted from Taihe, has a referral from here or knows anything about the orphanage or surrounding area.

2005-10 - Two other families we traveled with in August 2005 received babies from the Taihe SWI. All of the babies seemed healthy...small...but healthy. Our baby may have to have eye surgery to correct a "wandering" left eye, but other than that she's doing GREAT. She sleeps 10-12 hours every night, and still takes a morning & afternoon nap. She seems to be adjusting very well. (ML)

2005-06 - A family recently visited the Taihe SWI and returned with a wonderful story and some great pictures. Their group purchased two air conditioners for the orphanage that were added to two others that were purchased by Amity/Altrusa with donations sent by a group that adopted earlier in 2005 through "A Helping Hand" adoption agency.

Comments from adoptive parents:

"When I received my daughter at the age of 20 months she was dressed in fairly dirty clothing, was very lethargic, and was a miniscule 14 lbs. She is now doing much better. She's still tiny by American standards but is gaining weight and beginning to develop muscles. She has a wonderful personality and is very affectionate, which leads me to believe that the caregivers at the orphanage gave her a lot of love and affection." (AR, a. 10/98)

"I understand that it is a very small orphanage, with only about 25 children. The area was described to us as very remote and very very poor. In spite of this the children seemed to generally do quite well. It really seems like they did their very best given the limited resources." (LW)

"Our daughter appeared well cared for though she was under nourished and ate for three solid weeks when we got home. A week after we got her she was only 13 pounds (at the age of 18 months). The director answered what she was used to eating, that she generally slept through the night and that she loved her formula and congee. We forgot to ask how many children were there. We would be happy to talk to any one about our experience." (JS, a. 9/98)

"Our daughter was adopted on 12/21/98. She was 7 months old and very tiny but quite alert and responsive. Her many layers of clothes were clean although they smelled of a chemical that made me think they had been dry-cleaned. We were unable to find out much about the town except that it is remote and poor. Interestingly, all the girls in our travel group were given somewhat odd names -- our daughter was named Tai Yu, with the Yu meaning taro root. Another girl was named the Chinese word for eggplant! The orphanage director told our translator that they had given these girls names for things that were "easy to grow," so they would be able to get big and strong. Sure enough, our daughter is a hardy little thing! We were each given a handwritten page (in Chinese of course) about our daughter's schedule and personality. The girls all seemed to have been loved. The women from the orphanage who took care of them cried when we left. We were also told it was a small orphanage, although pictures showed a multi-storied building that looked like a hospital. The only other information I was able to find out about Taihe came from a waitress in our Nanchang hotel. She said a special type of chicken is raised there, called Taihe chicken and it's something of a delicacy. She said the meat is very dark, almost black. I found a dried chicken for sale at the Nanchang airport that I think may have been a Taihe chicken." (SA)

"We traveled to Nanchang and adopted a beautiful 11 month old girl from the Taihe orphanage named Fan Tai. Fan means to set a good example, and many of the Chinese said that Fan Fan is a good and popular Chinese name. She was placed at the door step of the Taihe Social Welfare Institute on 7/29/99 with a note attached to her. We do not know what the note said as they did not have it. One family did get a note however. They estimated that she was approximately 20 days old so her birthday is 7/09/99. Fan Tai was small when we received her, 15 lbs. 26 inches, but healthy, alert, full of smiles and very out-going. She also spoke a little Chinese. She was obviously well taken care of. In fact, the caregivers had tears in their eyes when they handed to us, and they lit up with big smiles when we met them to sign all the paper work at Nanchang. The other 2 children in our group were also healthy; one was 20 months old the other 9 months. We were given pictures of the outside of the orphanage, and the grounds were clean. It looked like a small hospital, and the caregivers were dressed in white overcoats. The guide told us the area where she came from is a very poor farming area, that was confirmed by other Chinese as well. Today, 12/00, Fan Tai is doing great. She is 25 lbs. 31 inches and quite the little character. We have been home six months and have had the time of our lives. Only problems have been eczema and a constant cold since starting part time day care last September. She is bright, funny, out going and very loveable. As Paul said she has grown leaps and bounds (now 25 lbs. 31 inches) and she is sturdy as a rock. She loves American food especially sweets. We would love to hear of other families who have adopted from Taihe county. We will definitely go back to visit. I absolutely loved China." (SW, a. 6/00)

Dong Fang Meng Xin	Your Child	Dong Fang Meng Yan	Your Child

Born 6/27/04	CLICK	Born 11/1/04	CLICK
Adopted 6/05	HERE	Adopted 8/22/05	HERE

Dong Fang Jin Yue	Your Child	Your Child

Born 9/3/03	CLICK	CLICK
Adopted 8/1/06	HERE	HERE

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.

Taihe Welfare Institute