Meila's hometown, Hefei
August 8, 2011
We have just spent 3 enjoyable days in Meila's town. We have seen parks, the new zoo, new shopping malls, old shopping districts and, most importantly, returned to Mei's finding spot and orphanage.
The city has changed a ton since our time here in Jan 2004. Our guide said that there were less than 2 million people here in 2004 and now there are over 5 million. There is construction everywhere and even the orphanage is currently building a new facility which will move all the children out and to the new building by the end of the year. We feel blessed that we were able to visit before this too changed. The staff at the SWI welcomed us warmly and allowed us to visit all the baby rooms, children rooms, play rooms, rehab rooms and preschool areas. We had brought lots of treats and passed them out to all the children. This was a great excuse to get in to all the rooms and play with some of the children. Meila was a bit shy during all of this and really didn't want to get too close to any of the kids or staff. Some of the little toddlers there didn't know what to think of us and started to cry. This upset Meila as I don't think she wanted to disrupt the flow or scare any of the children.
After our tour, we went to a meeting room and the director gave Meila a gift of a beautiful picture. It is like a small shadow box frame with a local tree sculpted of metal and Chinese characters that say warmly welcoming you back from the Hefei SWI. It was a good visit!
Just outside Meila's baby room, looking into the courtyard
The director giving Mei a gift
This little guy loved the cookie balls Meila passed out.(those are cookies hanging out of his mouth, not teeth) Don't you love chubby babies!
At the entrance of Hefei SWI
After our visit we went to a local restaurant for lunch where we were serve about 10 times more food than we could possibly eat. Our guide, Mr Ding, wanted us to try lots of local dishes and so we did. Mostly, we enjoyed them.
This yam dish was a local favorite for "internal cooling effects" in the hot summer.
Mom wanted to share this local restaurant with Aunt Diana.
Mr Ding took us back to the hotel where we met Meila 7 years ago. The Sofitel is way outside the city but the only 5 star hotel in Hefei. It is currently undergoing a lot of renovation but we enjoyed looking around and even rode the twin glass elevators. (brought back a lot of memories of the elevator races with Lauren and Trevor) I had alos forgot about the bowling alley there.
Pagoda in the park across from our hotel.
Not sure what this is, but it is beautiful and just around the corner of our hotel tucked between a bunch of old apartment buildings.
The city has changed a ton since our time here in Jan 2004. Our guide said that there were less than 2 million people here in 2004 and now there are over 5 million. There is construction everywhere and even the orphanage is currently building a new facility which will move all the children out and to the new building by the end of the year. We feel blessed that we were able to visit before this too changed. The staff at the SWI welcomed us warmly and allowed us to visit all the baby rooms, children rooms, play rooms, rehab rooms and preschool areas. We had brought lots of treats and passed them out to all the children. This was a great excuse to get in to all the rooms and play with some of the children. Meila was a bit shy during all of this and really didn't want to get too close to any of the kids or staff. Some of the little toddlers there didn't know what to think of us and started to cry. This upset Meila as I don't think she wanted to disrupt the flow or scare any of the children.
After our tour, we went to a meeting room and the director gave Meila a gift of a beautiful picture. It is like a small shadow box frame with a local tree sculpted of metal and Chinese characters that say warmly welcoming you back from the Hefei SWI. It was a good visit!
Just outside Meila's baby room, looking into the courtyard
The director giving Mei a gift
This little guy loved the cookie balls Meila passed out.(those are cookies hanging out of his mouth, not teeth) Don't you love chubby babies!
At the entrance of Hefei SWI
After our visit we went to a local restaurant for lunch where we were serve about 10 times more food than we could possibly eat. Our guide, Mr Ding, wanted us to try lots of local dishes and so we did. Mostly, we enjoyed them.
This yam dish was a local favorite for "internal cooling effects" in the hot summer.
Mom wanted to share this local restaurant with Aunt Diana.
Mr Ding took us back to the hotel where we met Meila 7 years ago. The Sofitel is way outside the city but the only 5 star hotel in Hefei. It is currently undergoing a lot of renovation but we enjoyed looking around and even rode the twin glass elevators. (brought back a lot of memories of the elevator races with Lauren and Trevor) I had alos forgot about the bowling alley there.
Pagoda in the park across from our hotel.
Not sure what this is, but it is beautiful and just around the corner of our hotel tucked between a bunch of old apartment buildings.
Posted by Kelly I. Posted In : China Heritage Tour
This picture is just for Ethan.
