Nanjing
Nanjing Children's Welfare Institution
No. 80 Hou Zai Men Dong Cun
Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
210016
Half the Sky's 29th Children's Center & 11th* Blue Sky Model Center
*upgraded 3/2010
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Infant Nurture Program since September, 2006 |
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Little Sisters Preschool Program since September, 2006 |
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Youth Services Program since 2008 |
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Family Village #4 since September, 2006 |
Nanjing is the capital of China's Jiangsu Province. In the summer Nanjing gets so hot and humid that it is referred to as one of the “three big furnaces of China,” (the other two are Chongqing and Wuhan) In winter, Nanjing experiences the fierce cold that is typical of basin regions. Metropolitan Nanjing’s population is 6.4 million.
Nanjing served as the capital of China during several historic periods and is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China.In the Tang and Song dynasties, Nanjing was a place where poets gathered and composed poems reminiscent of its luxurious past. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the city was the official imperial examination center for the Jiangnan region, again acting as a hub where different thoughts and opinions converged and thrived.
Nanjing’s Fuzi Miao, The Confucius Temple, was first built in 1034 during the Song dynasty. All the shops and restaurants near the temple have been constructed using Ming- and Qing-style architecture, which makes this area a major tourist attraction. The night market that starts in the evening is a good place to search for antiques, cheap clothes and bags, and pets!!! Pets sold here range from mice, rabbits, puppies and kittens, fish,and tortoises to guinea pigs. The market also sells the famous Yuhua Shi (Rain Flower Pebble), a souvenir unique to Nanjing, Yuhua Shi is a hard composite of jade, opal, and quartz that is usually made into pendants, rings, and earrings.
Located at the east end of Nanjing, Zijin Shan (Purple Gold Mountain) features three historical sites: Lingu Si, Linggu Temple), Zhongshan Ling (the mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen) and Mingxiaoling Mausoleum (one of the largest imperial tombs in China).
Climb to the top of the 60m and nine-storey high Linggu Temple to enjoy great views of the surrounding countryside and city. The beamless hall is an unusual construction that is constructed with no beams and five columns.
Zhongshan Ling, the mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, the first president of the Republic of China. Dr Sun's revolt on Oct 10, 1911, known as the Wuch'ang Uprising lead to the downfall of the Qing dynasty.
Mingxiaoling Mausoleum is one of the biggest imperial tombs in China. Emperor Chengzu, Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Queen Ma were buried in the mausoleum. As a gesture of deep respect, visitors would dismount from their horses and sedans at the Dismounting Archway located at the entrance. The Tablet Pavilion called was erected by order of Emperor Zhu Di, the fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, to eulogize his father's merits and virtues. The tablet is carried by Bixi, a legendary animal in the shape of a tortoise. The winding 1800-meter Sacred Way is lined with several pairs of stone sculptured animals that guard the tomb. Each animal has a different posture and each conveys an auspicious meaning. For example, the lions, king of the animals, show the stateliness of the emperors, and the camels, symbol of desert and tropical areas, indicate the vast territory of the dynasty.
Located west of the city, the Nanjing Massacre Memorial and Museum is a solemn building that honors the victims of war crimes committed in 1937 by the occupying Japanese army. A huge Peace Bell in front of the entrance was designed to remember the innocent victims and as a call for world peace. The museum includes moving letters and poems written by survivors
Jinling is Nanjing’s former name. Today it is not only the name of the tasty beer brewed in the city but also the name associated with Nanjing’s traditional snacks including deep fried dough cakes with scallions and salted duck gizzards.
Nanjing is best known for its dried salted duck, which hangs from many city shop windows. It is said that the best time to purchase and eat the duck is August when it is seasoned with osmanthus flowers and has a particularly delicate flavor.
Another local dish is "Eight delicacies soup," which is especially popular at the time of the Autumn Moon Festival. The "eight delicacies" are: fish, water chestnut, lotus root, vine, parsley, arrowroot and lotus seeds.
If you adopted a child who was in a Half the Sky program, we will be happy to send you any progress reports with translations we may have on file. Please fill out and send us this Form so we can start processing your request.
You should also have received a Memory Book at the time of the adoption so that your child will have an additional record of her/his earliest years in our program. If you don’t read Chinese and don’t know anyone who reads Chinese, we suggest that you check with a local college to find someone who can translate it. If you did not receive your child’s Memory Book, our Beijing office will try to track it down, though occasionally there are bureaucratic glitches and the institution is unable to find the original or in even rarer cases a copy. In every case, we will do our best to retrieve the Memory Book.