TongLing Children's Welfare Institute

TongLing SWI: The orphanage was opened in 1958 (located in South Huaine Ave). In 1997 he moved to a new building downtown. Give children and elderly home. In fact there are 80 beds for the elderly and 120 for children, but all are used. It has 9 rooms for children.

Some of the children live with host families in the city. There are about 80 children living at the orphanage and about 50 of these have special needs.

To visit this social Welfare Institute, you can take flight to Hefei city first. Then we can drive you to Tongling. The driving time will be 2 hour 20 mins for 163km. There are less than 100 hotels. Most of them are 4 star and 3 star hotels.

Tongling Location: It is situated in the south of Anhui Province, on the south bank of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. It is 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Wuhu and neighbors Anqing, Chizhou and Chaohu with the capital of Anhui province, Hefei about 120 kilometers (75 miles) away.  

Tongling History: Prior to the Qin government putting it under the control of Zhang Shire, it ruled was successively by several kingdoms. It is a time-honored copper-rich land in China, with a history dating back three thousand years. It is renowned as one of the birthplaces of Chinese bronze age culture, and its copper smelting history can be traced back to the Shang Dynasty (16th -11th century BC) and attained its prosperity during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).          

Physical Features: It lies in a region of plains and hills along the Yangtze River. The terrain is flat to the north with an alluvial plain. Low mountains lie to the south and southeast parts of the city, and a hilly region is primarily in the central.              

Tongling Climate: With a subtropical monsoon climate, it features temperate and humid weather, wet in spring and summer, a dry autumn and moderate winter. With the four seasons, being quite distinct, spring and autumn are relatively short. The annual average temperature falls around 16 degree centigrade (61 degree Fahrenheit), but is extremely cold usually in February.

When to Go: Autumn is the most comfortable season to visit it.    

Special Local Products: ginger in syrup, Yequeshe tea, Shun'an crunchy candy, archaized bronze vessel

Tongling Attractions: Tianjing Lake is located in down, on the north side of the Changjiang Xi Lu. Mounds naturally divide it into the east, west and north lake. There are in total seven hills encircling the lake and within the scenic area, new spots and historic relics compliment each other perfectly.  

River Dolphin Nature Reserve is a conservation center specifically for the Baiji Dolphin (Yangtze River Dolphin). Specimen halls and aquaria established in the center are for education research and sightseeing. Not only the river dolphins are on display, giant salamanders, Japanese brocade carp, Yangtze alligators and Chinese sturgeon are all on display.

Other Scenic Spots: Luosi Mountain, Jinniudong Historic Mine Site  

Depending on the size of the SWI and how often visitors return, a visit could can be a highly anticipated event by the staff, or a routine, minor inconvenience to the day to day running of the institution.

You will want to discuss this aspect of reality with your child and prepare her or him for what it might be like, based on what you know. It is good to talk to your child about what to expect and then what to do if things turn out differently than you expect. It is important to develop an attitude of flexibility and focus on enjoying the experience rather than to get set on things going a certain way, since things don’t always go exactly as planned on any trip or daily life experience. A small gift is always appropriate for the effort expended by the director and or staff to accommodate the visiting family.

Since it may be several years after an adoption, it’s not unusual that the orphanage moved to a new place. Remember it’s normal, natural, time will not stand still, just as your children changed dramatically from she/he was a baby when just there.

If you are interested in visit both of the orphanages, we are happy to facilitate it, you can follow the previous footprint to recall your excitement when you look at your children at first time.

We usually arrange visiting the finding site for families if have the Notarial Certificate of the finding place. The finding site usually is at the front of hospital/orphanage/government agencies, etc. Please note that there places may be changed also.

Since visiting the finding site is the most emotional part of the trip, it’s a personal decision for each family and only you can make the decision if you want to accomplish it.

We always arrange the meeting with the previous caregiver/ foster family. If you have the information of the previous caregiver, we will try our best to find her. Please do remember that it’ll be some years after your adoption, the caregiver may be moved away or be retired. If the caregiver is still working in the orphanage, the director will happy to facilitate the connection.

Also please note that the caregiver may take care of more than one hundred babies in the orphanage, so that she may not remember your child well.

If your family is interested or inclined to invite the orphanage director to lunch, it is proper to invite others in the meeting as well. This would usually be one or two of the directors' assistants. If you want to invite the caregiver or nanny, then you should extend that invitation through the director to show the proper respect that the position merits. Your guide will handle this for you, but inviting the staff through the director follows proper etiquette for the situation. Some of the orphanages offer the free lunch while the others request about USD90-USD150 for the extra charge. You may ask our trip consultant before you travel.

When visiting an orphanage, it is appropriate to prepare some gifts for the director/staff and the children. You can invite the director, the staff or the caregiver to have lunch together or prepare fruit basket for them, for their effort expended to accommodate the visiting family.

As for the gifts to kids, you can prepare some snacks, candy, books, school backpacks, toys and so on. Usually, you can buy them when arrival at the orphanage place, the guide can escort you.

If you want to donate something more valuable and not sure what is needed for the orphanage, you can first learn it from the director and then purchase them from the local market. Some SWI will issue a donation certificate to you but not every SWI will do this.