Guiyang
Guiyang Children's Welfare Institution
#111 Long Shui Lu
Long Dong Bao
Nanming District, Guiyang, PR CHINA
550043
Half the Sky Children's Center #37 opened in May, 2008.
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Baby Sisters Infant Nurture Program since May, 2008 |
| Little Sisters Preschool Program since May, 2008 | |
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Big Sisters Program since May, 2008 |
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Family Village #12 since May, 2008 |
GUIYANG
Guiyang is situated above sea level on the north bank of the Nanming River in southwest China. The city is dominated by mist-shrouded hills that surround the Wujiang Valley. Though Guiyang is one of the least sunny cities in China, its mild winters and summers make it a pleasant place to visit all year round.
Guiyang is the capital of province of Guizhou, whose terrain includes karst formations, underground rivers, jagged peaks, dramatic valleys, and terraced rice fields.Thirty-five percent of the province’s population is made up of ethnic minorities, some of whom live in Guiyang. They include the Miao, Bouyei, Dong, Yi, Shui, Hui and Gelo. There are so many parks that highlight the province’s natural resources and ethnic minorities that Guizhou is called the “Park Province.”
Jiaxiu (First Scholar’s) Pavilion, which was built on a huge rock in the Nanming River, has served as the symbol of Guiyang for 400 years. A magnificent three-storey pavilion 20 meters high, the tower features green tiles, red pillars, carved eaves supported by stone pillars and inside, a collection of paintings by ancient calligraphers. Under the Jiaxiu Pavilion is the white stone Fuyu Bridge (Jade Floating Bridge), which from a distance, looks like a dragon floating in the river. The Pavilion is particularly magical at night when colorful lanterns are reflected in the calm river water.
Less than a mile from the center of the city is Qingling Park, a fantastic mixture of tranquil forests, old temples, wild monkeys, ornately decorated pavilions and, at the foot of the mountain, man-made Qingling Lake. Every morning many of the city’s 3.5 million residents go to the park to dance with fans, play with swords, climb mountains and take their pet birds for a walk. Everywhere there is activity, even in the cold waters of the lake where only the exceptionally hardy venture. The top of the mountain provides a great view over the whole city, making the steep climb worth the effort. If you want to take the easy way up the mountain, a 500 meter long cableway has been built for tourists.
At the foot of the mountain is a road called "jiuqujing" that winds up to Hongfu Temple. Along the way you see ancient characters, pictures and carvings on the steep cliff. Wild monkeys line this path and others in the park. Hongfu Temple was founded in 1672 by Master Chi Song (1634-1706). After 32 years of construction, 100 monks took up residence here and turned the temple into a regional center for Buddhist teachings.
There are also many caves, including Qilin Cave where stalactites of various shapes hang, including a huge one that looks like a “qilin,” a mythical hoofed creature that was considered a good omen in ancient China.
Food
People in Guiyang like those throughout Southwest China love spicy food. As one saying goes, the Dong people could not live without sour and spicy food. Use of red chilies of various temperatures and salty dried chili powder dips for hot pots is ubiquitous. Food can be prepared mild according to your tastes but the best way is to settle in and eat the way the locals do.
The Miao’s Suan Tang Ya hot pot centers around a hot and spicy broth with a large whole fish chopped up inside. Like all hot pot restaurants veggies, meats and other delicacies are purchased a la carte to be added. The dipping bowls contain the ubiquitous chili paste but also add a cube of fermented tofu (non stinky) that makes a wonderful compliment to the fish. Be sure to wash it down with Mi Jiu a sweet purple rice wine.
Pickled Fish. According to the legend, a Miao girl found a shoal of fish in a pond. She tried to trap them in her hands, but all she caught was mud. A young man carrying a bamboo basket passed and saw what she was trying to do. He dropped his basket into thepond, catchin a pot’s worth of fish for her. He bid her farewell and continued his journey and the girl took the fish home. But she couldn’t stop thinking of him and cured the fish in a jar in the hope that she could share it with him eventually. A year later he passed by again and the girl invited him to her house. The young man ate the fish and complimented the young maid on her culinary skills. They soon feel in love and married and cured fish became a traditional Miao dish.
Delicious, cheap snacks are abundant in Guiyang:
Silk Babies - For a few kuai, you are given a stack of thin rice pancakes and chopsticks. You sit at a low table with bowls of raw and pickled vegetables and a small dish for mixing chili sauce and vinegar. Load the pancakes according to taste, spoon in a little sauce and enjoy.
Lian'ai Doufu Guo (The Bean Curd in Love) - It is prepared by cutting a piece of bean curd horizontally, filling it with vegetables and sliced meat, then toasting the bean curd until it turns golden. Finally sesame oil and other condiments (locals favor soy sauce, vinegar, pepper and shallots) are sprinkled on top. The dish got is name because it is said that lovers often share the bean curd with each other, which add romance to the food.
If you adopted a child who was in a Guiyang Half the Sky program, we are happy to send you whatever progress reports and photographs we may have in our files, but only after you've brought your child home. Please download and fill out a progress report request form and follow the instructions for faxing or emailing to Half the Sky