The Countryside

Claudia was born in Shang Rao about 3 hours from where we are now, Nanchang. Both cities are in Jiangxi province. She was found in front of the Chatang Old Folks home. The Cha in her name comes from the finding place. The part of Shang Rao where Claudia was found indicates that her birth mother would havbe from the countryside. This is true of all of the girls in our group. In effort to attempt to understand life in such a place we took a trip to the village of Cho Xian which is about on hour or so outside Nanchang City. Life is vastly different there.
We first visited the house of a family which dated to the Ming Dynasty. The home has been in the family for generations. Its floors were made of dirt - although well swept. A stream ran through the home and pictures of ancestors hung on the wall. There was electricity but no surfeit of lamps or lighting. I did notice that the man of the house wore flip flops with "USA" on them.
The next home we visited offered everyone ice cream. The house was a little more modern with fans blowing cool air which was welcome after coming off the dry and dusty streets of this small village. Families inthe village had multiple pets which included dogs, cats, chickens and potentially the duck we saw wandering around. There is no plumbing in the village and the cooking is done by wok-like wood stoves.
It goes without saying that the people of the village showed true kindness by welcoming us into their homes. They asked nothing - although the group brought candy for the children. Obviously, we cannot read minds or speak the language, but the people of this village appeared genuinely interested in meeting us and extended hospitality one would only expect in the small towns of American fiction. One woman offered the entire group cigarettes - although nobody in the group smokes. Another family asked the group to stay for lunch. However, it was hot and humid and an air-conditioned bus beckoned us and our army of one-year-olds back to the hotel.


I have posted a new slide show below of some of the sights. Please enjoy them and try to get a feel for the life her birth mother was living.