Poyang Orphanage
About The Orphanage
Poyang, formerly Boyang, is a county in the Jianghxi province of Southern China. The girls that come from the Jianghxi province are affectionately called "spicy girls." Some Chinese folks say that it refers to the idea that peppers are grown in province and the people of the province like spicy foods. While others say that it refers to their personality. If your daughter comes from the Poyang orphanage her Chinese surname will be "Bo." Some names that I have seen of the children from the orphanage are, Bo-Jin, Bo-Hui, Bo-Bi and our daughter's case, Bo-Xuan. If you travel to China to pick up your own Bo, it is not likely that you will get to visit the orphanage. Very few, that I know of, have been so fortunate.
The following is from Courtney Johnson's blog digging-to-china
"We drove through very rural areas of the JiangXi Province from Nanchang. We saw chickens, water buffalos and children all running alongside the road. We passed rice patty fields and, in some fields, erected tombstones honoring deceased family members. People were traveling on bicycle and bicycles pulled carts of people covered by tarps to keep the passengers warm. The buildings were mostly brick and cinder block. The earth was red clay. There was a lot of trash in the populated areas, alongside the road in front of houses and businesses. We passed citrus fruit tree groves. Normally the temperature this time of year is that of Florida, but they are having an unusually cold winter.
We arrived to the Poyang Orphanage about 4 hours later. When we arrived, we were greeted by two very nice women who must have had a leadership role at the orphanage. They offered us hot water and citrus fruit. I do not doubt that it was the best that they could offer. In poorer areas, tea is not available so hot water is "tea". The fruit consisted of mandarins an other native fruits that I've not seen. They also stuffed our pockets with the fruit. It is good luck to give fruit, especially gold colored fruit, to children (or at least that's how I understood it). Then the orphanage director, a man about 65 years old, came and welcomed us. The staff answered questions that we had. One of the staff persons, put her two thumbs together, and said something in Chinese to me. She was saying that Elyza and I looked alike.
They then took us for a tour of the lower floor of the orphanage. This is one of the poorer orphanages. The first room had three infants, the youngest was 7 days old. They were bundled up and were lying in what looked like wicker basket baby beds. There were no doors on the rooms and it was freezing, no heat. We could see condensation when we talked, that's how cold it was. In another room there was a small space heater and a line of clothing that hung from wall to wall. Another room housed older babies in cribs. There were several older women who must have been the nannies for the orphanage. It broke our hearts to see these babies lying bundled up in the cold rooms, helpless. It's a sad situation that these children are without homes and families, but I know that the orphanage does their absolute best to take care of these babies. A grace despite a tragedy.
Once the tour was complete we boarded the bus and went to a local restaurant in Poyang. When we arrived, the place was packed with locals. We were led to a room upstairs that was specially prepared for our group. They even turned on the heat for us, which was a real treat! Banners decorated the tables that read "Welcome American Families". They brought dish after dish of local cuisine, fish from the Poyang Lake. The beer was wonderful and tasted like a sparkling white wine. Some tried the rice liqueur that was strong enough to burn a hole through your stomach. It was lively; it was fun; it was a celebration for us families to share with the orphanage staff, who also ate with us.
It's a day that we'll never forget. One that will be an important story of our daughter's history. A day, despite sadness, was filled with hope and celebration for seven special little girls from JiangXi Province."
The following is from Courtney Johnson's blog digging-to-china
"We drove through very rural areas of the JiangXi Province from Nanchang. We saw chickens, water buffalos and children all running alongside the road. We passed rice patty fields and, in some fields, erected tombstones honoring deceased family members. People were traveling on bicycle and bicycles pulled carts of people covered by tarps to keep the passengers warm. The buildings were mostly brick and cinder block. The earth was red clay. There was a lot of trash in the populated areas, alongside the road in front of houses and businesses. We passed citrus fruit tree groves. Normally the temperature this time of year is that of Florida, but they are having an unusually cold winter.
We arrived to the Poyang Orphanage about 4 hours later. When we arrived, we were greeted by two very nice women who must have had a leadership role at the orphanage. They offered us hot water and citrus fruit. I do not doubt that it was the best that they could offer. In poorer areas, tea is not available so hot water is "tea". The fruit consisted of mandarins an other native fruits that I've not seen. They also stuffed our pockets with the fruit. It is good luck to give fruit, especially gold colored fruit, to children (or at least that's how I understood it). Then the orphanage director, a man about 65 years old, came and welcomed us. The staff answered questions that we had. One of the staff persons, put her two thumbs together, and said something in Chinese to me. She was saying that Elyza and I looked alike.
They then took us for a tour of the lower floor of the orphanage. This is one of the poorer orphanages. The first room had three infants, the youngest was 7 days old. They were bundled up and were lying in what looked like wicker basket baby beds. There were no doors on the rooms and it was freezing, no heat. We could see condensation when we talked, that's how cold it was. In another room there was a small space heater and a line of clothing that hung from wall to wall. Another room housed older babies in cribs. There were several older women who must have been the nannies for the orphanage. It broke our hearts to see these babies lying bundled up in the cold rooms, helpless. It's a sad situation that these children are without homes and families, but I know that the orphanage does their absolute best to take care of these babies. A grace despite a tragedy.
Once the tour was complete we boarded the bus and went to a local restaurant in Poyang. When we arrived, the place was packed with locals. We were led to a room upstairs that was specially prepared for our group. They even turned on the heat for us, which was a real treat! Banners decorated the tables that read "Welcome American Families". They brought dish after dish of local cuisine, fish from the Poyang Lake. The beer was wonderful and tasted like a sparkling white wine. Some tried the rice liqueur that was strong enough to burn a hole through your stomach. It was lively; it was fun; it was a celebration for us families to share with the orphanage staff, who also ate with us.
It's a day that we'll never forget. One that will be an important story of our daughter's history. A day, despite sadness, was filled with hope and celebration for seven special little girls from JiangXi Province."
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT
From all reports, the orphanage at Poyang is not one of the horror stories that we sometimes hear about. The orphanage is fairly new and seems to be ran by very caring people. Heat is a precious commodity in most of China. Other than it being cold, I think it is one of the better orphanages in China. I have not heard or read a single report of children that are malnourished that come from this orphanage. In fact, Hero formula is manufactured in the Jianghxi province and the Poyang orphanage, evidently, has an ample supply. From what I could tell, the Hero formula seemed to be very nutritious.
If your daughter is now or has been at this orphanage, I think there is a better than average chance that she has been well cared for.
The climate of the area is similar to that of the Southern United States. Several parents report that their daughter does not like to be covered when sleeping. Several also report that their daughter do, in fact, like somewhat spicy foods like hot dogs or sausage.
During your trip to pick up your daughter, you will be in Nanchang. Your rounds through the government offices could go smoothly or it could be chaotic. A lot depends on the quality of your adoption agency in China. Jianghxi is known for porcelain. Some of the porcelain vases here are works of art. Traffic, as in all of China, is near comedic. There are traffic lights and crossing guards at major intersections but stop signs at lesser intersections are non existent. Crossing the street is risky at least. We tried to get behind the locals when they crossed and just stayed at their pace. Don't look at oncoming cross traffic. I think if you look at them they will decide you will stop and they should continue. Then, you are in danger from traffic coming from the opposite direction. Staying in the flow is the name of the game.
In my opinion, the food in China is excellent. It seems to have more flavor than what we are accustom to. The sweets are not as sweet as here in the US but after a couple of days, you get used to it and actually enjoy it more. Some foods are different but I enjoyed nearly every thing I ate. We took a lot of food stuffs from home and ended up leaving nearly all of it in our room in Nanchang when we left. We needed the room in our suitcases that our American food was taking up. I would take some food but don't over pack it.
