Our 2006 Visit to Gaoyou

Introduction

In November 2006 I traveled to Gaoyou with my wife Leslie, our daughter Sarah, and Leslie’s mother Delores. We were in China to adopt our son Joseph, who was waiting for us at the Shanghai Children’s Welfare Institution (CWI). Sarah was born in Gaoyou on February 2nd, 2003 and lived at the Gaoyou CWI until we adopted her on March 1, 2004.

I had the opportunity to visit Gaoyou in April, 2005 when I joined a build crew for the Half the Sky Foundation (HTS). That visit inspired this website and a book I self published in 2005 “The Guide to Gaoyou”.  It also gave me a strong desire to return to Gaoyou with my family to introduce them to our daughter’s birthplace.

Through friendships that arose while researching Gaoyou I was able to establish a relationship with Ni Wencai, Vice Mayor of Gaoyou, and his daughter Lily. He graciously offered to give our family a tour of Gaoyou and its historical and cultural sites. We gladly accepted his offer.

This is the story of our trip.

Wednesday Nov 22nd – Off to Gaoyou

Our journey to Gaoyou began by boarding the train to Nanjing in Shanghai. Apparently travel by car is expensive in China with fuel costs comparable to those in the US, and high tolls on the freeways. For these reasons our guide service, Our Chinese Daughter’s Foundation (OCDF), recommended that to save money we take the train to Nanjing, and then have our guide and driver take us the rest of the way to Gaoyou. Despite having heard a few horror stories about Chinese train travel, none of the dreaded hassles of the train station materialized. The train took off at about 8:40 AM.

Train tickets are available in two classes, hard seats, and soft seats. The hard seats are arranged in two rows of three seats, and the soft seats are in two seat rows. Our four soft seats were as least as comfortable as an airline seat, and faced each other with a small table in the center. Overhead storage for carryon bags was plentiful, and the train was smooth and quiet. Soft seat tickets from Shanghai to Nanjing cost 72 Yuan each ($9.28).

Our arrival in Nanjing didn’t go quite as expected. Our train rolled right through the big new train terminal, and at about 12:30 pulled into an old rundown station at the end of the line. Our Shanghai guide had instructed us to wait right outside the train car for our local guide. As we disembarked from the train there wasn’t any sign of our guide. Since it was raining, and the platform was uncovered, we headed for the station. At the station we were directed outside to an alley, and still no guide. I dropped my stuff to go look for her and was surprised that there didn’t appear to be much of a station at all and we were in a dingy part of town. As a slight panic started to raise our guide Kay appeared and quickly got us out of there. Apparently she had been waiting at the new station when she found out that our tickets had us at the wrong station. Disaster averted.

After a large lunch we talked Kay into taking us shopping at the Confucian Temple market. The market is next to the Mandarin Garden Hotel were we had stayed for Sarah’s adoption and we had fond memories of it. It was great fun and we all managed to buy a few things. There was a steady drizzle but it didn’t matter. At 3:30 we met up at the McDonalds to load up for the three hour trip to Gaoyou.

We left Nanjing over the famous Yangzi River Bridge, China’s first major modern engineering accomplishment.  I wish I could have gotten an idea of the scale of the bridge but that was pretty hard from the top.

Soon it was dark and the rain and wind had grown fierce. Our driver had chosen to take secondary roads in order to avoid toll booths and it was tough to see the road in the dark, not to mention the bicyclists who were all dressed in dark clothes which made them nearly invisible. After a tense trip we finally arrived in Gaoyou at about 7:00 and checked into the same hotel I stayed in when I was here in April of 05 with Half the Sky now named the RunYang Cun Holiday Hotel. 

As soon as we were set up in our room I e-mailed the Vice Mayor Ni to let him know we were in town. I swear about 20 seconds after I hit SEND our doorbell rings and he Lily are standing there. Apparently they were already in the hotel looking for us. We made arrangements to visit the CWI tomorrow morning, then join the Ni’s for a half day historical tour in the afternoon and an all day tour on Friday.

Still full from our huge lunch we attempted to beg off dinner but Kay offered to have some sent to our room and that sounded like a good plan. She ordered us two huge platters of food, enough for several meals. We felt awkward that we were only able to eat a small fraction of the food, but ate what we could and sent the rest back.

 

Thursday Nov 23rd – CWI visit and tour of Gaoyou

Weather cool and rainy.

We were all up at 4:00 and down to breakfast around 7:00. After breakfast we all walked down to the city center for some grocery shopping. The rain had continued but the wind died down, at least it wasn’t real cold. The city center is where the famous Post Riders sculpture is that graces the homepage of my website. Also there is a grocery store where we were able to stock up on water and snacks. We then returned to the hotel in time for the CWI visit at 9:00.

The Gaoyou Children’s Welfare Institution

The orphanage visit went very well; they really laid out the red carpet for us. The CWI campus consists of at least three buildings. Two of them, the HTS Foster Village, and a building housing the infants, face the street. Behind these is a courtyard and a third building containing rooms for teenagers, elders and the CWI offices. We were directed to the conference room on the third floor of the rear building.

The CWI director Wang Fu Hai was there to greet us with his secretary. Vice Mayor Ni Wencai’s secretary was also present. We started the meeting with tea and fruit, and then we exchanged gifts. The director’s gift to us was a knotted rope double fish decoration and a toy for Sarah. In return I gave him a copy of my book along with letters and pictures that other families had given me to deliver. We also donated $300 that we had brought to shop for the children. It didn't look like time was going to allow us to shop so we donated it to the institution to fill the children's needs as they arose.

Next we toured the Half the Sky Foster Village that I was a small part of last year. It was great to see that it is thriving. The Foster Village was the first in a series of foster villages set up by Half the Sky in cooperation with the local and provincial authorities. Local couples agree to foster four children of various disabilities, in exchange they are provided with apartments and aid in caring for the children. It is far from a free ride though, and I marvel at the huge commitment these families make. The children will stay with them until adulthood and will not be placed for adoption. Everything that we worked so hard on is being put to good use.

Next we took a quick walk through the orphanage building. I had heard that the population of infants was down considerably from the 40 or so that we had seen in April 2005 and that appeared to be true. We only were able to see two children although the doors to the other nursery rooms were closed. One of the nannies caring for the infants was Sarah’s nanny and remembered her. We managed to get a picture of the reunion but forgot to get her name.

From there we moved on to the activity room where we met Britney, an 18 month old girl whose adoptive parents were waiting for their travel approval to bring her home. A family had done a great favor for us by taking pictures of our son in Shanghai back in July so we were happy to pay it forward by taking some pictures and video of Britney for her parents. It was also encouraging to see that Britney was obviously well fed and cared for by the HTS trained nannies.

The Beimen and Zhongshikou Markets

After the CWI tour the director joined us for a walk through the Beimen Market just a few blocks north of the CWI.  This is the market that I was told matched our daughters finding site when I visited Gaoyou in ’05. I’ve found these markets fascinating with their variety of fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, and live animals. Not many households have refrigerators so the markets are always busy as families buy ingredients for the day’s meals.(street arch near market 北 (north) 农大(big)街(street))

As we walked through the market we attracted a bit of attention people as everyone was interested in what we were doing there. When our guide told them that Sarah was from Gaoyou they were very excited and gathered around to give her good wishes. As we left the market the director surprised us with a full kilo of fine Chinese green tea as a gift. That should last us several years.

The director treated us to a large lunch at a local restaurant, after which we visited what we learned was Sarah’s true finding place. I was surprised to find that I had walked right by many times, but never noticed, the Zhongshikou (中市口) or Center City Market. The market was similar to the Beimen Market in the variety of goods available but it was enclosed by one large roof instead of several smaller ones. Once again it was painful to imagine the cold February day when Sarah’s birth parents left her here. We could find some comfort in the fact that as busy as the market is she couldn’t have gone unnoticed for long.

We returned to the CWI to drop the director off and took some group pictures at the CWI gate. The director was very gracious and altogether spent about 4 hours with us. At this point we returned to the hotel for a brief rest. Delores wasn’t feeling well so she stayed at the hotel with Sarah as the Ni’s arrived to host us on their tour.

Leslie and I met the Ni’s in the hotel lobby and began with an exchange of gifts. Wencai provided me with several items, including his own book on the 1931 floods at Gaoyou, an investment guide to Gaoyou, a second book on Gaoyou and a promotional VCD of the city. I gave him a copy of my book and shared with him the many letters from parents of Gaoyou children I had brought with me. He especially appreciated the letter from a 10 year old daughter of Gaoyou.

Longqui Village

Our first stop was Longqui Village, a very interesting archeological site with relics from a 7000 year old village. I am a bit of a history buff and China is well known for its long history. Longqui Village is old though even for China. There were several significant finds here including carbonized grains of rice with characteristics that indicated that the rice was cultivated not just picked from the wild. This is some of the earliest known evidence of farming in China. The small museum at Longqui was well done with many well preserved artifacts. Around the grounds sculptures and recreations helped illustrate what life was like here for the ancient peoples.

Gaoyou Industries

Next we visited an example of modern Gaoyou in the form of a huge garment factory north of the city. The factory was well lit, heated and air-conditioned with good working conditions for the hundreds of seamstresses. The factory produces heavy coats and other garments for the popular domestic brand Bosideng.

 I was surprised to learn that Gaoyou is home to a large garment industry that produces over 30 million pieces of clothing a year. Wencai proudly showed us a garment industry retail/wholesale center that will open early in 2007. The center contains 2.7 million square feet of warehousing and retail space. It is truly an impressive accomplishment; I’m looking forward to returning when it is fully up and running.

Wenyou Tai

The last stop on this day was Wenyou Tai, a historic site ½ mile north of our hotel. In AD 1084 three famous Chinese thinkers and writers met here to write, drink and discuss poetry and literature. The buildings at Wenyou Tai are preserved in honor of that meeting. I find it an interesting insight into Chinese culture that a place where three scholars met so long ago is still maintained in their honor. 

The Wenyou Tai site also includes the 1931 flood exhibit that American Steve Harnsberger helped build. I have been watching Steve work on building this memorial to his Grandfather and the victims of the devastating floods of 1931 for some time now. The small museum is well done with many pictures illustrating the devastation, including some taken by Charles & Anna Lindbergh. It was great to finally see the finished product. It was late in the afternoon and getting dark fast so we wrapped things up and headed back to the hotel.

Later, after warming up a bit, we met for dinner at the hotel.

 

Friday Nov 24th – Historical site tour with Ni Wencai

Weather: Dry, cool

After breakfast in the hotel restaurant we went across the street to the Post Office to see if they had any souvenirs, unfortunately they didn’t. This was disappointing as on my last trip we found the China Post office to be a great source of Gaoyou memorabilia. I asked Wencai about this later and he seemed surprised that I was looking for more souvenirs. I’m getting that souvenir hunting isn’t a big thing for the Chinese.

We went on a short walk down toward the square then turned north to walk market set up on a side street. There were too many notable sites to keep track of. The weirdest one was a man prostrate on the ground screaming what sounded like a Native American chant while a woman behind him kept up a constant wail and held out a hat for money.

Zhengousi Temple

At 9:00 Wencai, Lily and their driver picked the whole group of us up for a full day tour of Gaoyou's historical sights. Our first stop was at the Zhengousi Temple and Pagoda located on a small island near the west bank of the Grand Canal. I was looking forward to seeing the temple up close as I had only been able to view it from the far side of the canal before.

 Zhenguoshi  is an active Buddhist Temple as well as a tourist site. Since my last visit a new bridge has been built from the west dike of the Grand Canal to the island that the temple and pagoda sit on. The temple has been extensively restored in recent years and is beautiful.

The pagoda remains un-restored due to a lack of funds and a desire to maintain its originality. It is in poor shape and in need of major repairs.

Xinmin Floodplain

Next we took a long drive to the west around the south end of Gaoyou Lake to the town of Tianshan. The drive was very interesting as it took us well away from the city and into the beauty of the Chinese countryside.

Our drive took us over the Xinmin 新民floodplain south Gaoyou Lake.  This is the outlet of Gaoyou Lake were the Huai River continues south to meet the Yuangze at Yuangzhou.  The floodplain is a dry open expanse devoid of any buildings for its 4.5 mile width, which is quite a change from the rest of the area. During the  summer rainy season much of the area floods. The road is well build to withstand the yearly submersions. In the winter wheat and other crops are grown here.

Han Dynasty Tombs

At Tianshan we visited the Wukong Buddhist Temple. Although the volcanic hill the Temple is located on is small it’s the highest point for miles around. The current temple is about 3 years old but stands at the same location as a previous temple that stood here for hundreds of years.

The significance of this place is that it now overlooks a quarry where two mid-Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C-A.D. 24) tombs were unearthed. The tombs belong to Liu Xu, son of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty and his wife. These tombs were a significant find and are now on display in the Han Tomb Museum in north Yangzhou. A replica of the tomb is also on display in Beijing. One more tomb remains buried here waiting for the funds to properly recover it.

 Lingtang Township

From Tianshan we drove the short distance to Lingtang (菱塘) township. Two thousand of Lingtang’s population of 20,000 are Muslims of the Hui Nationality. This makes it Jiangsu Province’s largest Muslim enclave and as such it is designated a Hui nationality village, the only minority village in Jiangsu province.

Lingtang is also home to eastern China’s largest Mosque (Qingzhen Si 清真寺) as well as an older Mosque just north of Lingtang in Qingzhen Village. These temples are the activity centers for Muslims throughout Jiangsu Province as well as Anhui Province just west of here. During important Muslim celebrations thousands of faithful journey to Lingtang to worship.

The newer, larger Mosque was built in 1996 in the Middle Eastern style at the cost of 1.8 million yuan. The older temple at Qhingzhen was built in 1844 in the traditional Chinese palace style of architecture using cyan bricks and small tiles. Wencai described it as “of classicality and sobriety”. Inside the temple is one maidenhair tree and one golden cherry bay that are over 300 years old.

In November 1989, the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia and other five members Gulf Cooperation Council have come to visit Lingtang Town with their wives.

We were warmly welcomed by local dignitaries at each stop……………..

Next, was lunch in Lintang featuring several local delicacies. These included lamb, goose, and split boiled goose head. Wencai was kind enough to serve me some of the goose head and I have to say it was rather good. I guess it's good to get out of my comfort zone which I admit is pretty small when it comes to food.

菱塘鹅天然养殖一景.

 

From there it was back to Gaoyou where we dropped Leslie, Sarah and Dolores off for their naps.

 

Jingtu Tower

The next historical site was the Jingtu Tower. This tower was one of my favorite sites in Gaoyou and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it had been extensively restored. Where the tower was rotting in a field, it now has a facelift, and a new base surrounding it. Wencai asked if I would like to climb to the top and I jumped at the chance. He got the key to unlock the gate and we went inside. After climbing one story apparently Wencai had second thoughts about the very steep stairs so we returned to the 1st floor. Wencai told me that all that remains is to find the funds to build a visitors center.

Kuixing Pavillion and the Old City Wall

We drove the short distance to the large plaza that the Kuixing Pavilion overlooks. The Pavilion is a remnant of the old city wall that once surrounded Gaoyou and sits atop the only remaining section of the wall. The plaza is several acres in size and is a popular place for exercising.

The Yucheng Post

Yucheng Post Museum where I finally was able to tour the old posthouse. This is what gives Gaoyou its name. Gaoyou means "high post" and this 600 year old station was a link in a vast network of post stations that spanned much of China. It has well stocked with horses and riders and was a advanced Pony Express that could get a message from Nanjing to Beijing in four days. They say some of the buildings are original and in this case I believe them. It is a very interesting piece of history. We are going back tomorrow with everyone.

 

The Wang Residence

The last stop was the residence of the Wang Family. The Chinese honor their scholars highly and the Wang father and son were noted Gaoyou scholars that lived in the 1700's. A Gaoyou resident recently told me that there are few people know that would understand the depths of the Wang's studies into the meanings behind the Chinese characters. Wencai didn’t actually know where the residence was and had to ask several times. It was a little out of the way I admit. There isn’t a whole lot to it but it was a quite place in the middle of the city. Apparently the older men meet at the Wang residence to shoot the breeze.  

Back at the hotel the Ni’s and I had a round of tea and discussed future plans.  I said goodbye to Wencai and Lily. . I am very grateful for their time and hospitality. They are warm people and I am glad I can call them friends.

For dinner we met up with Mike and Judy, a couple from the Bay Area that are in Gaoyou teaching English at a junior college in Gaoyou. We had planned on having pizza but when we found that the pizza place had closed we settled for KFC to get a taste of home. It was nice to have some one to share our China moment stories. Mike confirmed something that I am reminded of as I write this; they light off fireworks pretty much every night in Gaoyou. We walked through the shopping district with them and agreed to meet the next day to tour the museum.

Earlier today we decided to change our itinerary and skip Shuzhou. Instead we're going to spend an extra 1/2 day in Gaoyou. Then stay Saturday night back at the Mandarin Garden Hotel in Nanjing for more shopping back at the Confucian Temple shopping area. That will give us time to walk around Gaoyou and a bit less travel stress. All the moving around is taking it’s toll on us. We were all asleep by 10:00.

Saturday Nov 25th – Final Day in Gaoyou

Weather: steady drizzle to rain

I was really glad that we had an extra half day in Gaoyou as it gave me time to walk the city like I did with Mike Mann during our HTS trip. Gaoyou is easy to walk around and I covered a lot of ground, and took a lot of pictures in a couple of hours. At 11:30 we met Judy and Mike for another tour of the Post Museum, Then antique shopping in Old Town Gaoyou. A found a couple of nice items and managed to get the sellers down to a decent price. I also found a small, well used abacus which is something that I had hoped to find on this trip. I don't really know why.

We were all up at 6:00 after a good nights sleep. After a quick breakfast I spent from 7:30 to 9:30 walking around Gaoyou. I went west from the hotel and tried to get a picture of the alley behind the hospital but couldn’t get there. I also revisited the Zhong Shikou market and took some more pictures and video. From there I tried to find the Wang residence but the streets were such a maze I finally gave up. I returned to the hotel via the CWI and Renmin Park. The park had some new features, the zoo was all fixed up and the children’s carnival area was much bigger.

I got back to the hotel and packed until 10:00 when I went to meet Kay downstairs. I thought Leslie was out for a walk and blew an hour trying to find them. It turns out they were in Delores’ room. Why I didn’t look there I don’t know.

We packed up and checked out, then went to the post museum to meet Judy and Mike. Before I went in I hit a antique store next to the post house and bought a silver covered Jade whatsit that apparently hangs from a mans belt.

After the post house tour we did some more shopping in old town where I bought a teapot, and an abacus. After lunch at the hotel we made a quick stop for shoes and hit the road at 1:40 for Nanjing and arrived in Nanjing at 4:30. The Mandarin Garden Hotel seemed a little more fixed up and the building in front of it has been removed. This opens up the view a bit but means that our favorite dumpling shop is gone. After supper we all went shopping in a heavy rain. I bought 2 sets of health balls, a cloisonné plate, a small brocade, and a bottle painted from the inside. After that I headed for the barn before I bought the store. Leslie and Delores got rained out and came back early.

There are many changes occuring in Gaoyou. There is a huge new hospital going up behing the Renmin Hospital on Fuquian Lu; Garbage cans are popping up all over to discourage littering; The noisy, poluting diesel "mule" trucks that we once saw so many of are a lot less common now; and Gaoyou is working hard to preserve it's past by restoring it's historical sites. Buy the time we come back for our next visit I'm sure there will be many more changes for the better. I'm looking forward to our return already.

 

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