About Henan
Henan is a Chinese province located north of the Yellow River in the central region of China with the name Henan means south of the river. In ancient China, four of the Eight Great Ancient Capitals of China has been here, such as Luoyang, Anyang, Kaifeng, and Zhengzhou.
In ancient China, Henan is called Zhongyuan, means central plains, which is the birthplace of Chinese civilization with over 5,000 years of history, and until 1,000 years ago, Henan still was the cultural, economical, and political center in China, the numerous ruins of Shang Dynasty capital city Yinxu, Shaolin Temple are the proof.
Henan is China's second most populous province with a population of over 94 million lives in an area of 64,479 sq mi, and the 12th most populous country in the world. Meanwhile, Henan is the 5th largest provincial economy of China, with agriculture, heavy industry, tourism, and retail etc, the High-tech industry and service sector are not common to see in Henan, except Zhengzhou and Luoyang.
With a population of over 94 million, Henan is China's second most populous province. Even Henan ranks the 5th largest provincial economy of China; its per capita GDP is low compared to other eastern and central provinces. Besides, it is considered to be one of the more backward areas in China, because the most of the economic produces coming from dwindling aluminum and coal reserves, as well as agriculture, heavy industry, tourism, and retail. The high-tech industry is few and only concentrated around Zhengzhou and Luoyang.
With floodplains in the east and mountains in the west, Henan is known as the "breadbasket of China" for the densely populated North China Plain. The Taihang Mountains intrude partially into Henan's northwestern borders from Shanxi, forming the eastern edge of Loess Plateau. The Xionger and Funiu Mountains in the west part form an extensive network of mountain ranges and plateaus, where the famous Mount Song and its Shaolin Temple is located in the far east of the region.
Collection of Henan Orphanages
Based in China, Lead to China works closely with Chinese Government and Social Welfare Institutes throughout China. This section contains detailed information like each orphanage address, photos, travel stories, visit arrangement, and travel tips.
- KaiFeng Social Welfare Institute XinXiang Social Welfare Institute AnYang City Social Welfare Institute HeBi City Social Welfare Institute JiaoZuo City Children's Welfare Institute LuoYang City Children's Welfare Institute
- LuoHe City Children’s Welfare Institute NanYang City Social Welfare Institute PingDingShan City Social Welfare Institute SanMenXia City Social Welfare Institute TaiKang County Social Welfare Institute XinYang City Children's Welfare Institute
- XuChang City Social Welfare Institute
Get Inspirations
Having no idea how to start your China homeland tour? Don't worry! You can get inspirations from our hand-picked private tour, or join the group tour with other families, even let us to customize a trip for you.
15 Days Henan Children Reunion Heritage Tour
- We can arrange the visiting to all the orphanages in Henan Province
- Famous places like Great Wall/ Giant Panda/ Terracotta Amy are all covered
- Private guide/ vehicle and diver offer you valued sevice
- No forced shopping activities
Small Groups: 2024 LTC Heritage Tours-A
Summer Schedule: Jun 10th, Jun 24th
Customize Your Own Return Trip
Tips for a China Orphanage Visit
When you plan to have a China return trip, you'd better prepare a gift for other children in the orphanage. You can ask our travel consultant about the details and buy some gifts several days before your trip or you can buy that after your arrival in China if you're inconvenient for the excessive baggage. The guide from LeadtoChina will give you proper suggestions and help you to buy these. If you're confused about what items the SWI need, here are some good examples: snacks, or a basket of fruit, backpack, books or other school supplies. You are also suggested to buy fans and air conditioning in summer in some poor SWI. Most of the SWI will give you a present in return for memory.
Many families care about the donation, and if you want to do this, we suggest you to exchange the donated money for RMB and show this to the director of the SWI. Some SWI will issue a donation certificate to you but not every SWI will do this.
According to the size of the SWI and the frequency of the families' return, the visit can be the most important thing for the staff or a small part of the orphanage's routine work. You can talk to your child about the actual situation you've known to let them make enough preparations. You'd better tell them what will happen and what to do if things are not the same as they expected. They should keep a flexible attitude towards life and enjoy the process instead of following a certain model to start as things are not exactly what we think and this is very important. One more important point which is often ignored is that most of the orphanage children always have various special needs. It is better to consider this before visiting and your child should know that some children in the SWI have physical or mental disability. All these can provide a better atmosphere for the children with special needs in the orphanage during your return visit.
If you'd love to invite the orphanage director to lunch, please don't forget other people in the SWI as they are usually the director's assistants. If you want to invite the caregiver or nanny, you'd better extend the invitation through the director to request the consent out of courtesy. Our guide can help you to do this and convey your invitation accurately and politely. What's more, some of the orphanages will offer you free lunch but many SWI will charge you for about 100 USD as lunch fee. You can inquire about this through your trip consultant before travelling.
At last, some Chinese individuals act turgidly in front of you for not losing face. But most people follow traditional Chinese values, modesty and gentleness. Bearing this in mind can help you deal with problems in different situations successfully during your return visit.
