FuZhou(福州) Children's Welfare Institute

Fuzhou Orphanage: This orphanage is located in Fuzhou, the provincial capital of Fujian Province. There are over 200 children in the care of this orphanage, many of whom are disabled. In 2003, a foster care program was held at this orphanages, and at this time many of the Fuzhou babies and children live with foster families instead of in the orphanage.

Fuzhou Overview: Fujian Province, with its capital Fuzhou, is on China's southeastern coast. It faces the island province of Taiwan across Taiwan Strait to the east. Neighboring provinces are Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Fujian occupies an area of around 120,000 square kilometers (about 46,335 square miles). Its permanent resident population is slightly above 34.7 million. Many minority ethnic groups live in Fujian province: Hui, Miao and Manchu. Fuzhou produces several fine handicrafts, including Shoushan stone carving, Fuzhou bodiless lacquerware, gold and silver jewelry, the four treasures of the study, fireworks, bamboo and wooden furniture, cork pictures, ivory earrings, jade sculptures, wood carvings, porcelains, paper umbrellas, paper lanterns, and horn combs. Even in ancient times, Fuzhou was a major gateway to the outside world. Every year thousands of merchants would sail to and from Fuzhou to trade in tea, china and silk. Fuzhou has again become a crucial seaport city and manufacturing center of southeast China.

When to Go: Fujian has a year-round warm and humid climate. Annual average rainfall ranges from a low of 1,400 mm to a high of 2,000 mm, and annual average temperature from a low of 17C to a high of 21C. It is hospitable in all seasons for travelers in this province.

What to See: Mount Wuyi, Earth Towers of the Hakkas in Yongding

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.