Tate's Orphanage

Today we had the opportunity to visit Tate's orphanage.  We hired a driver to take us there, an hour-long trip to the outskirts of the city. 

It was interesting seeing a different side of China other than the cities.  We came to the mountains that surround Jinan.  These villas are owned by wealthy people who want to get away to the countryside.

Tate wasn't all that interested in the view.  He fell asleep for a little while.

A river followed the edge of the highway, and all along it were hotels carved into the side of the hill for people to stay in and experience fresh-picked mountain cuisine, Cindy Lee explained.

Finally, we arrived at the Jinan Children's Welfare Center.

I must explain a little about this orphanage.  It is really, really nice.  And new.  They say it was only built three years ago.

They say, because it is in the capital city of this province, and because it is in the more affluent North of China, many people have made great donations to build this place.  This one is such a shining example of human kindness that it was even on the news, internationally.

Most orphanages in China do not look like this. 

The children here are really blessed to be here.  The sad part is, a nice building can't replace having a family of your own.

The nannies met us at the door and excitedly scooped up Tate.  He received a warm welcome back.  This nanny (below) was Tate's for the last 4 months.  She took care of him and about 9 other children.  He smiled and played with her.  Mom was able to ask a few questions about him.

This little girl was so adorable!  She kept coming up to me wanting me to play with her.

Tate's bed, front right.

We were given a tour of the facility.  The place was simply huge.  There are about 350 children living here, plus all of the nannies, who are single and live in apartments on campus, and a number of families who live with groups of severely disabled "unadoptable" children.  The majority of the children I saw were special needs of one kind or another.

Oddly, not a single child was outside, though the weather was amazing.

There was even a duck pond!

As we were preparing to leave, Tate's friends came to a window and shouted, "Yang-Yang!  Yang-Yang!" which was his nickname there.  Short for Zhiyang.

I realized the sun had come out while we were there.  Woohoo! 

I think the visit was a good thing.  We learned some things about Tate, took lots of pictures, and hopefully gained something for him to reflect on in the future.  As we left, he simply settled back into my mom's arms and took it like a pro.