ChangTing Social Welfare Institute

ChangTing Social Welfare Institute:

Address:Huangwu Village, Datong, Changting County

Location:The orphanage is in Changting County Changting, about 5 ½ hours by road from Fuzhou, capital of Fujian Province.

Changting information:Changting County has a population of 480,000 inhabitants and an area of 3,099 square km.The majority of the population belongs to the Hakka ethnic group and speak the Hakka dialect.It is in a subtropical zone, with abundant rainfall.

General Information:The orphanage provides a home to 30 children and the elderly.
Very few families have visited the orphanage as it is located away from the provincial capital.

Director of the orphanage:Ms. Yu Liu Jin

Surnames of children:Ting.
There’re about 2 4-star hotels, Changting Hotel and Jinren Hotel in Changting Country. Changting is is under the administration of Longyan city.

Scenic spots in Longyan:
Spot 1: Earth Towers of the Hakkas:
Tulou is a kind of traditional rammed citadel of the Hakkas. The resident building can be round and square. In Yongding County, there are entirely three hundred and sixty round houses and four thousand square houses. The grand complex of Hakka residence in Yongding show best the intelligence of the Hakka, added luster to Chinese traditional architecture.
Spot 2: Guanzhai Mountain:
Located 0.6 miles to the eastern suburb of Liancheng County in Fujian Province, Guanzhai Mountain is renowned for its majestic, attractive scenic sight as well as the unique Danxia landscape. The shape of the mountain is like the crown of Xiezhi that is a strange beast in Chinese ancient legend, hence the mountain’s name “Guanzhai”.
Covering an area of 47 square miles, Guanzhai Mountain scenic spot is a combination of mountains, lakes and rivers, caves and temples. Lingzhi Peak, shaped like a fungi, is the main peak, measuring 2,168 feet in height. Stand upon its flat topped summit, you will see a panoramic vista of villages amongst green field toward the west. To the east, high cliffs stand majestically, stacked one upon another. Wulao Peak to the southwest, rises close to Lingzhi Peak. There is a crevasse between the two peaks, called “Yi Xian Tian” (a gleam of sky).
Guanzhai Mountain also is blessed with notable manmade landscapes, among which are the academies of classical learning built during the Song (960-1279), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties in the majority with Yangzhi Pavilion, Qiushi Academy, Xiuzhu Academy and Dongshan Cottage being the more famous ones. There are two temples: Fayun Temple built in the late Song Dynasty, and Lingzhi Temple mainly offers sacrifice to Kwan-yin, the mercy Buddha.
Due to its striking beauty, Guanzhai Mountain attracted countless men of letters to leave a great many precious calligraphies and paintings at these sites. Today, more and more visitors come here for activities such as mountain hiking, sightseeing or just to relax.

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.