Calm Spirit/Ying Yu Jade China Trip 2005

The train arrived on time at Fenghuang Cheng City in Liaoning Provence. This is an old city, very traditional, and one that "foreigners" rarely visit. There are no hotels here for foreigners, only Chinese hotels. We ate some noodles at a local restaurant, and found a taxi to take us to the orphanage. This orphanage is for children who are disabled, and is not an orphanage that offers adoptions to "foreigners".

The drive to the orphanage was remarkable in itself. We quickly left the paved road, and traveled on what looked to be a dirt path, and sometimes it turned into a field, or a creek, and if I didn't trust my Chinese friend, I would have been really nervous about where we were going. There were people walking around, homes, buildings, so I guess it was a real road that went somewhere. We eventually pulled into a drive way with an arch over it that lead to an old courtyard style building that serves as an orphanage and an old persons home.
A well-maintained garden was in front of the building, and some older people and a young disabled man were working it. The arrangement here is that the older people help take care of the orphans, nurturing and playing with them, which they obviously delight in doing. Those who can take care of the garden. The buildings seemed to be clean and well maintained, a nice change from the dirtiness that we saw in the city.
Most of the children were "some other place" during the day, I think either school or some kind of therapy program. I was uncomfortable taking photos because it seemed disrespectful as this is home to many people. But director Wan Zongcheng let me photograph one child, although most of the other people there avoided being in the photo.
Director Wan Zongcheng accepting donations for the orphanage
The director gladly accepted the donations I collected from Calm Spirit and donations customers made when they used the old order form, and the 10% of every Guan Yin item I sell on Ying Yu Jade. Charles Li, my friend in Beijing who is a Kung Fu master, donated kung fu suits for the children, and we brought some other small snacks and treats with us. I feel confident that Wan Zongcheng will use the money in a positive way for the children, because everybody I saw looked well cared for, children and the older adults. This center appears to be a compassionate place for the orphans and the other people who live here.

Ma Xing Shu, Director Wan Zongcheng and Kathleen at Feng Huang Orphanage

The visit here was a very moving experience for me, but this turned out to be a day for moving experiences. Our visit to the Phoenix Mountain and Buddhist Monastery was an unexpected adventure, and this day was one of the most awesome days I experienced in China.

NEXT: Fenghuang Mountain (Phoenix Mountain) Buddhist Monastery
Ying Yu Jade
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