Tonggu Visit

September 2005

Tonggu, Jiangxi Province, is a small county of 29,000 people under the jurisdiction of Yichun City. Eighty percent of the population are Chinese minority. The county encompasses a small urban area and much rural farm land and mountains. The urban area has several schools, the West Lake Square which hosts community gatherings, a hospital, a sprawling market, two hotels, a social welfare institute, and many apartment buildings, within its boundaries. The Ding Jiang (River) runs directly through town. The rural area includes vegetable farms, expansive rice paddies, bamboo forests and is home to lots of water buffalo.

The Tonggu Social Welfare Institute, which houses both children and senior citizens, is run by Director Guo Luosheng. It is a complex of four buildings. Construction of a new facility was begun in 2004 at which time the old building was torn down. As of this writing senior citizens occupy two buildings, the administrative offices occupy another building and the orphanage building is still under construction. Several older special needs children reside at the complex under the care of aunties. All babies are in foster care during the construction.

International adoptions began in earnest in 2003, although some children were adopted earlier through Yichun City administration. The first international adoption from Tonggu was in 1995 but domestic adoptions began earlier.

Adoptive parents travel to Nanchang, the provincial capital, to complete paperwork and receive their children. Some families visit Tonggu, a 4-hour drive west southwest of Nanchang near the border with Hunan province, through arrangements with their agency or on their own. Families are welcomed by the director and his staff. They are usually treated to a tour of the town and a delicious celebratory meal.

Tonggu adoptive families maintain a list serve on Yahoo. Members span the globe and post photographs of Tonggu in the photo file.

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	Tonggu Social Welfare Institute
	Road Leading to Tonggu SWI
	Rice Paddies
	Countryside
	Tonggu Street Scene
	Tonggu Health Clinic
	Gate Leading to the Market