The moment we got the referral material, we decided to visit the place our daughter spent the first year of her life. Mom and Dad both really wanted to go but finally we decided it was better for a Chinese speaker to go there with the other parents. Mom with 4 other families (total 7 people plus a new baby) went to the orphanage on the Sixth of July. Dad stayed at the hotel with the kids and went to the Sawn Room – a play room in White Swan sponsored by Mattel and Fisher Price. Three of them with other families also walked to the McDonald’s for some “edible food” for Big Brother.
Yang Chun is located at Southwest of Guang Zhou and is more than 4 hours away. The streets show that it is a typical Chinese small town. Some beautiful mountains and caves are in the area that we did not get to see.
The brand new 5-story building of Yang Chun Social Welfare Institute was "first class" by Chinese Orphanages! The conference room and offices are nice and air conditioned. Babies were placed in the top two floors. The baby rooms were very clean! There were about 100 baby girls there waiting for their forever families. Each nanny has to take care of 17 babies for an 8 hour shift. The small air conditioners in the baby rooms were not turned on, so they put babies on the hard marble floor to cool them off. There were three 6 to7 year old girls that have lived there for a while. They were running around, so happy to see someone visiting the place and pleased to take candy from one of us. Except for the hardwood bottom, stainless steel sides and a bath towel as blanket in each crib, there was nothing else for the babies. Some walkers and bouncers on the floor were the only luxury things in the rooms. No toys, no play areas, no nothing! The kitchens and bathrooms were clean and had very simple necessities. There were not many supplies in the cabinets. We did not visit the old building, storage areas or the laundry room. It was a very emotional experience for all. The image of the newborn they picked up the night before is still
haunting... 
