Pingxiang, Jiangxi

On Friday night we stayed in what Gongzhan referred to as the Holiday Inn of China. It was on the outskirts of a "small city" when we inquired how large a small city in China is he looked it up for us and the population was 1.9 million. Hmmm. I think small in China is a little different than small in the US!

Then Saturday morning we went to the Pingxian Social Welfare Institute. Most of the places we have been house orphans, elderly, and anyone else the state is "taking care of" in the same compound. Pingxian was no exception. We were shown into a recreation area where they brought children in to see us. 

First was a girl Pat met last year. She is so sweet and smart! She has spina bifida and cannot walk without a walker. I loved interacting with her! I took her picture and printed one for her then tried to get her to draw a self-portrait, which is a fun thing we have done with a lot of the children. She would not draw herself but she did draw a picture. She is a wonderful girl! But, because she is considered very hard to place, her file will only be prepared if we find a family who wants to adopt her.

Next was another beautiful, older girl. She may have a few delays but it was pretty fun to watch Pat go through all of the evaluation like run, hop, stand on one foot, etc. and to see her do all of those things then turn two beautiful cartwheels! Everyone in the room clapped and cheered! She took me out to a board where there were pictures of children with their adoptive parents and told me "mama, baba" then pointed to herself. I said "you want a mama and baba?" she nodded vigorously. So I asked Gongzhan to tell her that we were going to try to find her a family. Her response: "What time will they come?"

Then there was the little guy with Down Syndrome that everyone loved playing with. He was so sweet and funny. He had such a great little laugh! After his evaluation he wanted someone to turn the little CD player on. He then proceeded to dance to the music! It was so, so cute! I was occupied right then and couldn't take his picture, but just take my word for it, he was precious!

We also met a sweet baby boy less than a year old with a cleft lip and palate. He was brought in by his foster family and I so enjoyed watching them with him. They obviously love him and are taking good care of him. 

The pride in his foster dad's eyes was unmistakable. The little fellow was really, really cute. His beautiful eyes just drew you right into them!

That is not all of the children we met yesterday, but it at least gives you an idea what we are doing and how varied each situation is!

We were only at the orphanage until noon then went to another spectacular lunch. 

These steamed buns are filled with purple sweet potatoes and they are as delicious as they are beautiful!

After lunch Darla left with Mrs. Zhou, the provincial official who accompanied us throughout Jiangxi. They were headed back to Nanchang. Darla will be flying home today. We will miss her through the rest of the trip!

We had a couple of hours before we needed to be at the train station to go to Changsha, so we actually fit in a little sight seeing! It was fun and breathtakingly beautiful, but also rather hot and humid (though it really could have been worse! There was a breeze at least.) I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Then we went to get on our high speed train to Changsha, only it was delayed by 2 hours so we went on a regular train in the dining car. That sounds so very easy, stated like that. But it was hot and noisy and dirty and we had a ton of luggage which all had to be carried up the stairs and down the stairs and onto the train, which only stops briefly. Anyone who knows about the lines in China knows that they are nonexistent. Everyone just pushes to the front. So Gongzhan said to stay with him and we did! Even though it meant pushing people out of the way. I had a bag on each shoulder and a huge suitcase. It was quite an adventure! Gongzhan told us stories of growing up in China and many, many amazing things.

But that will have to wait.

The breakfast buffet is calling my name...