Above is a photo of the map of Pingliang City. We also have a map of the city for our daughter with a notation where she was found and where the orphanage is located.

I am so thankful that I made the journey. The drive gave me an opportunity to see China in a much different way than I could any other way. One of the things that strikes me is because of China's long history, every spot of land has been touched and improved. Almost every mountain had terraces cut into it and literally on every square meter they grow something to either eat themselves or to feed livestock. From the fields to the smallest courtyard in the city.... the Chinese grow food. In America we can go to some parts of our national forests and at least think that very few people have seen or been here and the area is basically "untouched". Because there is so much farming there were not many trees except where the government has implemented the reforestation project that requires trees to be replanted (trees help control the soil/sand erosion. Again everything had been touched by human hands....every tree we saw was planted there on purpose and nothing was "natural" or wild due to necessity....I hope that makes sense.

Because of the rain the clouds were heavy and hung low. Around every turn we saw beautiful scenery. One of my favorite views was looking down into the valleys.... they seemed to stretch off into eternity. Our journey took us along part of the Great Wall system. Meaning, in this part of China there is not a "wall", but more of a line of military forts. These forts are mostly manned by "Militia". If there is trouble the farmers drop their hoes and go to the forts for defense.

The first hour was very good highway. The next four hours were more like rural country roads. I had imagined from how they described it, that it would be dirt roads but they were not. They were paved and in most places in good shape. Some potholes along the way that the front end of a car could fit in, but they were the exception. On the drive, every few miles there was a small farming community with a few "houses" clustered together. Most of these were very poor. The road was slick and we saw in one small town the aftermath of a head-on collision between two very large trucks; one was carying a load of rocks about the size of soccer balls. By the time we got there they had cleared a path through the rubble. We did not see either of the drivers. I'm sure they were hurt. The interesting thing is where the collision occurred, was just outside of a town on a straight away. I would have thought it would have happened on one of the blind curves in the mountains where people pass with little regard for on-coming traffic and there are not guard rails with what seems like a thousand foot drop.

It was still raining and the temp had dropped to the low 50s. When we got to the city the first thing we did was drive to a local hotel for lunch. We did not expect it, but we were the guests of honor. At the hotel we were greeted by the head Government Official of the city; the Director of our daughter's orphanage and the Accountant of the orphanage. They were already there waiting for us. I think our visit was very important to them and they wanted to make sure we had a good experience from their town. Lunch was pre-ordered and very good. I had never tried pig ear before but it was not bad. Although, I don't think I'll be looking for more of it when I get back to the States! They toasted us and thanked us for coming and for helping us take care of the children. It was very touching and definitely from their hearts. For the toast they served small (about half shots) of a locally made brandy. We talked about the Olympics coming in 2008 and sports.....they love the NBA. I think it's because of Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets. They are very proud of him.

Very different than I had anticipated. From the descriptions people gave I imagined an "Old West" type of town with one main street and small shops on either side that stretched for just a few blocks. Again what I imagined was not correct. The city has a population of around 270,000 and a very busy downtown area with at least one large mall that was four stories tall and one whole level of shoes. It looked like it would rival Nordstroms as far as selection and how well they were displayed. The size of the city remined me of Tulsa, OK. It is surrounded by mountains. In this part of China, there is a large Muslim population. We saw a number of mosques in the towns we passed through on our journey. You could tell the Muslims because they wore white caps and most of the men had beards. According to the head of the local government, the major industry is coal mining and they also have a power plant in town. The city is known for its silk and it is located along what is known as the "Silk Road". When we asked what we could buy that was unique or a specialty of the city, they really could not think of anything. I purchased Allyson a little watermelon outfit at the mall and I purchased four Jade necklaces....one for each member of our family, in a small shop as a rememberance of the city.

We went to the mall with the Director of the orphanage to buy a few things they needed. All of the families that had adopted children from Pingliang in our group gave a little extra money (around $50 US each) and asked the Director to buy something that they needed in the orphanage. They needed a new TV because the one at the orphanage did not work and also some clothing for the children. You would not believe how far $300 US goes in "small" town China. We purchased a 27" flat screen HDTV for 1800 RMB (thats around $225 US). And the balance - around $75, was spent on clothing. That purchased about 30 complete outfits. We carried out enough bags of clothes to make Ivana Trump jealous!

From the mall it was a short drive to the orphanage. We are the first US group to ever adopt children from this orphanage. They had placed about 25 children in other countries before us. We were the first foreign visitors from any country to come to the orphanage. From Main Street we took a left and went along a very bumpy road. On one side "homes" and the other an 8-foot drop off into a ditch. This was not a good road but it was short....not more than three minutes to the front gate of the orphanage.

The gate was Aggie red and about 10ft tall and wide enough for a large truck to fit. The orphanage was sounded by a 12ft brick wall. Just like in Mexico....the top of the wall had concrete poured on it, and then while it was still wet, glass shards were stuck in it so you would be cut if you tried to climb the wall and get in.

The first building you see is the office building where the Director worked and it was three stories tall. The Director's office was on the second floor. It was very sparse with a large metal door and concrete floors. We dropped off the childrens' clothing and then she took us into the conference room where they had a large collage of pictures of some of the babies that had previously been adopted. She invited us to send back pictures of our children and she would place them on the wall. Next, we walked down the stairs and out of the office building and around to the right through another gate to where the children lived. This facility housed children and elderly. The children had been left to be found and the elderly were either disabled and could not work, or they had no family to take care of them. I asked if the older people helped to take care of the children and she said no, but in one of the pictures we got back on our disposable camera I saw one of the older gentlemen sitting with a baby on his lap.

The first thing I noticed when I walked through the second gate was the background....if you look up you see mountains on three sides and it is a lovely view. The next thing I noticed was how clean the courtyard was. To my right there were four barrack-looking buildings about 40ft long each. Between each building was a courtyard. In the courtyard there are trees and vegetables growing in the small garden. The first building was for the babies up to 3-years-old. In the next building were the children from age 4-15. After age 15, the children are expected to get a job and make a life for themselves. Those who are not able to work are kept at the orphanage. Then, the third building housed the elderly and the fourth is the dining room and kitchen.

The first sound I heard when I entered the gate was babies. We went to the first building and I got to see where my daughter spent the first nine months of her life. It was a very emotional moment. I was pleased to see how well kept the room was. Although it was old, it was in good repair. In Allyson's room there were three cribs against the right wall and on the left was a bed for her caregiver. I was surprised and pleased to learn that the caregiver slept in the room with the infants. It made me feel that her cries did not go unnoticed. Each room was painted green halfway up the wall and white to the ceiling. There were pictures on the wall of the babies' rooms painted by students at a local school.

All of the caregivers were dressed neatly in pink medical type coats. I saw Allyson's crib mate. A very cute little girl. She looked to be about 18-mos-old. I also saw a number of little boys with cleft palates. All of the children looked well fed and cared for. We spent a few minutes taking pictures of our babies' cribs and the caregivers, and then we went to the older children's building. They were sitting in one room playing. It was a bit more depressing for me because I knew that these children would have a difficult time being adopted. They were a little scared because the don't see many men as all of the caregivers are women. The third building housed the elderly and we did not look into their rooms to respect their privacy. It looked from the outside very clean. Finally, the dining room and kitchen was the last building we saw. The dining room had tile floor that I would literally have eaten off of it, it was so clean. In fact, I'm sure it was cleaner than the table where we ate dinner later that evening. There were four tables in the dining room that looked like you might see in someone's formal dining room. They were made of wood and had matching chairs. The dining room had a sliding glass window that looked into the kitchen. I'm sure they prepared the food, handed it through the window, and the children and elderly were served. The babies did not go to the dining room as their food was taken to them.

On the way out, the Director showed us another garden area where they grew flowers and more veggies: tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes and a few others. There I stopped to find a rock as a small momento of the place.

My overall impression of the facility was neat and well-kept but old. They do the best with what they have. I am glad to have my daughter with us, but I know she was loved and cared for there.

After a few more pictures and goodbyes, we left the orphanage to visit the places where our daughters were found. Pingliang is a long city that stretches out along the banks of a river. The reason this is important is that all of our daughters were found within 1/2 mile of the orphanage. My daughter's finding spot was our first stop. It was about a 5 minute walk from the front gates of the orphanage to the "Peace Hospital". My daughter was left to be found on the first floor landing of a private hospital.

I got a few pictures but could not go inside because it was under renovation. I think Allyson's birth mother knew our daughter would make it to the orphanage because this place was only a five minute walk to the orphanage. The Peace Hospital is a small hospital about four stories tall. The next child was just about 100 yards down the road. Another was just around another corner....all within 1/2 mile from the orphanage.

It was a long trip, 10 hour in the car, but an experience I will treasure forever. If you have questions please let me know and I'll do my best to answer them.