News

Xinhua picks top 10 news stories in China in 2005: China's Xinhua News Agency has selected the top 10 news stories in China in 2005. In order of occurrence, the list goes as follows.

Chinese firms 'exploiting staff': Private employers in China are breaking the rights of employees, with 80% of firms not signing contracts with workers, a government survey says.

Local Story

Huntsmans 'expecting' a child from India: There may be a new member of Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s family in 2006 -- the governor and his wife are in the process of adopting another child, this time from India. The newest member of Utah's first family will have six siblings, including a 6-year-old sister from China.

News

When Chinese Sue the State, Cases Are Often Smothered: The peasants surrounded the clerk in the busy court anteroom, badgering him to let them sue the officials who had seized their land. No, no, the clerk said, shaking his head and waving his hands, as the peasants recalled it. They were wasting his time and theirs.

Jail for those who help sex selection: Those who assist others with foetal gender selection that leads to abortion will be jailed, according to a revision to the Criminal Law that was discussed by top legislators yesterday.

Bad vaccines may trigger China bird flu: China is most likely using substandard poultry vaccine or not enough good vaccine, which would explain recent outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in poultry, a prominent virologist said on Thursday.

300 Million Chinese Drink Unsafe Water: About 300 million people living in China's vast countryside drink unsafe water tainted by chemicals and other contaminants, the government said Thursday in its latest acknowledgment of mounting risks from widespread pollution.

Mei Mei -- Little Sister

Mei Mei -- Little Sister: Portraits from a Chinese Orphanage

The Chinese believe an unseen red thread joins those in this life who are destined to connect. For photographer Richard Bowen, that thread led him to China's state-run welfare institutions, where there are thousands of children, primarily girls, growing up without families to take care of them. Mei Mei presents a poignant glimpse of just a few of these remarkable children. Composed against neutral backgrounds, these portraits capture the girls' inner lives, away from their often bleak surroundings.

The images show an almost endless range of expressions: small faces filled with longing and hope, joy and sadness, humor and mischief, defiance and despair. Through the camera's eye these young children are no longer orphans, but individuals whose personalities are as vital, distinct, and beautiful as any mother's child. When that unique human being comes into focus, the connection is made and the red thread becomes visible. And once seen, the bond can never be broken.

News

Dog Year Bigots Barking Up Wrong Tree, Says China: Chinese tradition holds 2006 will be a year of bad luck for people born under the sign of the dog, but misfortune has come early for some looking for jobs. Chinese companies looking for new recruits had deliberately passed over candidates born as dogs in China's ancient 12-animal astrological cycle to ward off the bad luck expected for people in years of their same sign.

China to Get Tough on Cellphone Fraud, Spam: China will require all mobile phone subscribers to register using their real names next year, in a bid to curb rampant spam and growing fraud conducted over mobile services.

China to double spending on AIDS/HIV prevention: China will double its spending on AIDS/HIV prevention to some $370 million over the next two years as the country tries to keep the number of HIV-positive people below 1.5 million by 2010.

Housing, Education and Med Care Most Important: A 2005 survey conducted by Horizon Group revealed that employment, social security and housing are the top three social concerns for Chinese citizens. Accordingly, the public is increasingly focused on reforms in housing, education and medical care.

Featured Flickr Photo

40346283.IMG_6015
A Miao kid in Guizhou province, China during a traditional lunar festival.

(Courtesy of alidarbac)

Local Story

Girl gets name, home, family in Hampton: Aja Emilee Lynn was 3 days old and had no name on Christmas Day last year when she was laid at the gates of an orphanage in China's Jiangxi province.

China Related TV

China Sprout posts a much-appreciated weekly guide for China Related TV listings.

News

Year of Dog to Bring Baby Boom and Shortage of Ayis: A baby boom is expected next year, The Year of the Dog according to the lunar Calendar, meaning there should be huge demand for nurses who look after children during the first month after deliver, or yuezi ayi as they are known in Chinese.

China's population not to top 1.6 billion: Experts estimate that China's population is likely to hit a peak between 2025 and 2030 earlier than expected. The peak population, however, will probably be about 1.45 billion in the future, not to top 1.6 billion.

China's mobile phone subscribers skyrocket to 388 million: The number of mobile phone subscribers in China reached 388 million by the end of November, as usage continues to grow in the largest market in the world.

60% middle school students dislike parents: A survey showed 6.6 percent of the surveyed students are afraid of their parents while 13 percent of them loathe their parents and 56 percent were extremely disgusted with or even hate their parents. Only 4.8 percent of the young people surveyed said they like their parents.

Local Story

Home for the holidays: The answer was yes, and the color was pink. Joe Gastel gave his wife paint swatches in various shades of pink on her 37th birthday, and with that, the fate of an abandoned Chinese girl was sealed.

New Google Search

I've changed the search bar on the right of the blog to use Google instead of Atomz. I hope in the long run it will give better results. Currently, it seems a bit flaky. I will continue to tweak it until it gives satisfactory results. Thanks for your patience.

Merry Christmas!

News

Sleigh bells ringing throughout China: Santa Claus might have never expected that he could be so popular in China. Christmas trees and baubles are decorating homes, shops, restaurants and office buildings in major cities, while images of Santa and Rudolph are young urbanites' favourites.

Christmas gaining popularity among Chinese: Christmas trees and baubles are decorating homes, shops, restaurants and office buildings in major Chinese cities, while images of Santa and Rudolph are young urbanites' favorites. About 90 percent of 2,000 Chinese recently surveyed said they would have special arrangements on Christmas Eve, reported Saturday's China Daily.

Rural students to enjoy free education: Rural students in China's relatively backward western region will enjoy free compulsory education from 2006, according to a government decision.

Local Stories

Bringing hope to Chinese orphans: One Fallbrook family is making a difference in the lives of Chinese orphans. Steve Bolt, his wife Cathy, and their five children welcomed Mary, a Chinese orphan, into their home three years ago. Last summer they added Abby to their family. Abby, now a year and a half old, is a happy smiling child like her sister Mary.

Willow ready for first Christmas in America: Eileen Protin, of Charleroi, said the whole family dotes over the toddler. There will be extra gifts under the Protin family Christmas tree in Charleroi as a new member of the clan will celebrate her first Christmas in America.

Featured Flickr Photo

Local
A older style house in Beijing

closer

(Courtesy of Junk Girl)

NPR -- China's Environment

China's Rapid Development and the Environment: Critics say that China's rapid economic growth leads to pollution in the air and water, and leaves mountains of untreated waste. In one recent incident, an explosion at a Chinese chemical plant spilled benzene into a major river, cutting off the water supply to thousands. As part of an ongoing series on China in the 21st century, experts and guests examine the country's environmental record.

Hunan Update

China suspends some adoptions: Chinese authorities have temporarily halted adoptions in some regions of Hunan province because of a continuing investigation of a baby-trafficking scandal, a senior Hunan official said. The official denied, however, that the scandal has prompted China to suspend all adoptions from Hunan, one of the main sources of Chinese children adopted by Canadians.

News

Govt calls on protecting migrant children: Numbering nearly 20 million and mostly lacking resident registration, Chinese migrant children are facing severe difficulties protecting their rights, said a Chinese government official here Friday.

Most Young Chinese Prefer to Have One Child: An extensive survey of university students show that less than a third of them hope to have more than one child.

China to end welfare heating in 2007: Urban residents in northern China will have to pay for their cozy winter living by the end of 2007. . . . Regarded as a public welfare service, heating has been free for urban residents who work in State-owned enterprises or governmental organizations in northern China since the 1950s.

Kung fu film breaks China records: Kung fu epic film The Promise has taken $9m in its first four days of release, making it the biggest-ever movie opening in China.

NPR on China's Economy

NPR -- China's Economy Larger Than Thought: China has discovered $300 billion in its economy, thanks to an updated accounting system that is better able to track the private sector. Many expect revised economic data being released next week to show the country's economy to be about 20 percent larger than thought.

Hunan -- Conflicting Information

There is conflicting information circulating on the internet about the closure of Hunan adoption. Here is the latest:

From Brian Stuy, posted to APC --

Over the years, I have had contact with scores of directors from orphanages I have visited. Sometimes I make further contact with them to get their opinions on events involving adoption.

This week I spoke with one such director, and he told me he had just been at a director's meeting where it had been announced that the CCAA was halting adoptions from Hunan until further notice. He did not indicate whether this would impact already-referred children and families with TAs.

Time will quickly show is this information is accurate or not. I believe it is solid.

From Jane Liedtke, forwarded to APC --

We have contacted CCAA and the Hunan Provincial Adoption Center (twice) and none of the orphanages in Hunan are closed to international adoptions. One orphanage director at a county orphanage in Hengyang is under investigation. They report that all Hunan adoptions are in a "go" situation not a stopped situation.

Local Story

Adopting a whole new outlook on life: The newborn Chinese girls were placed in cardboard boxes and left in front of welfare agencies. Some were abandoned in grocery markets. One set of twins was deserted in the early morning on the front steps of a primary school. More than 200 Chinese-born girls -- from infants to adolescents -- with similar stories gathered at the Huntington Townhouse yesterday for a holiday party at which the bleakness of their origins was outshone only by the brightness of their collective future.

China Related TV

China Sprout posts a much-appreciated weekly guide for China Related TV listings.

Hunan Adoption

This e-mail from Brian Stuy has been circulating on a number of adoption e-mail lists.

I'm in China, so don't know if this has hit Stateside yet, but the CCAA has closed Hunan Province to adoptions until further notice. Apparently the issues with the baby smuggling are raising additional concerns, so to avoid international censure they are closing down this one Province for adoptions. Additionally, I think you have heard the the Chinese government has prohibited Chinese newspapers from reporting on this event anymore. These two events show that the Hunan story is not yet close to resolution, and thus was broader than most people initially thought. Brian

Brian as also writted this open letter the the CCAA:

... I can only assume that China is working from a position of determination to make sure events that occurred in Hunan are not common place, and are resolved quickly. I can only assume that there is no desire to cover-up what has been discovered to be wide-spread kidnapping and selling of China's daughters. As adoptive families, we trust that this is the case. Thus, we can view the just-announced closing of Hunan Province to further adoptions as a precautionary measure designed to show that the CCAA and the government are on top of things, and are acting to return the adoption program to complete integrity and legitimacy. ...

Featured Flickr Photo

Saturday Morning -- Calmness
The calmness reflected here is not representative of the bustling saturday morning crowd.

(This series of shots are taken in Cheng Huang Miao, Shanghai)

(Courtesy of Ya Ya)

Local Story

Holding pattern: A Chinese foster mother rocks a baby girl to sleep, each night repeating the same soothing words: "I wish you always happiness to fill your heart, wisdom to fill your mind, and confidence in faith to fill your spirit. May you live your life being your true, authentic self."

News

China confident of containing bird flu: China is completely confident of being able to contain the bird flu epidemic after recording 15 consecutive days without a new outbreak, the nation's chief veterinary officer said.

Rural areas of China put squeeze on farmers: This year, Zhou Junniu got an unexpected gift from Beijing: The government abolished rural taxes and fees, saving the garlic farmer an amount equal to $800 annually.

China Gets "Desperate": Only time will tell if the ladies of Wisteria Lane get lost in translation. Desperate Housewives is set to hit the notoriously conservative Chinese airwaves for the first time Dec. 19, it was announced Thursday.

Stifling in Jade Dust: At 31, Feng Xingzhong is dying after years of toiling in one of China's gemstone factories. He's not alone -- except in speaking up for justice.

Local Story

Adoptees hang on to their homelands: When 4-year-old Zoe Drigot picks up a pencil or crayon to write, she not only practices her ABCs like her fellow preschoolers but crafts Chinese characters as well.

NPR on China's Economy

China's Economy Larger Than Thought: China has discovered $300 billion in its economy, thanks to an updated accounting system that is better able to track the private sector. Many expect revised economic data being released next week to show the country's economy to be about 20 percent larger than thought.

Update on Baby Trafficking

Chinese Stonewall on Baby Smuggling: Chinese officials have imposed a wall of silence on a baby- trafficking scandal in which orphanages and child-welfare agencies were implicated in a scheme to buy and sell at least 100 children. Police and child-welfare officials in Hunan are refusing to comment on the latest case, and Chinese media have been ordered to stop covering the story.

(Thanks Frank from China_AP_News)

Featured Flickr Photo

Forbidden Gardens
Forbidden Gardens - Katy, Texas

(Courtesy of Vanita)

Sad News

Spring Hill mother charged with murder in child's death: A Spring Hill mother was indicted by the Williamson County grand jury yesterday on charges of felony murder in the death of her 20-month-old daughter, whom she and her husband adopted from China eight months ago.

Local Story

Be a 'forever family': This summer, my husband, Chuck, and I had the privilege of accompanying our two granddaughters back to the orphanages in China where they once lived.

China Related TV

China Sprout posts a much-appreciated weekly guide for China Related TV listings.

Featured Flickr Photo

Calm
on a winter day at Beihai Park in Beijing

Large version

(Courtesy of Junk Girl)

Articles on Baby Trafficking

This is a topic that few will find enjoyable. But for those who are interested, I am posting links that have been provided by various people on different adoption lists.

Baby-Selling Ring Busted in China: Police in southern China have arrested 16 people allegedly involved in kidnapping and selling baby girls as young as newborns to foreigners.

Orphanages Accused in Baby-trading Scandal: Orphanages in central China's Hunan Province have sold or traded at least 100 babies over the past few years, and authorities are investigating a crime ring that may be marketing children across China.

Baby-selling orphanage in Hunan cracked down: The local police of Qidong County in Central China's Hunan Province announced the crackdown on a baby-trade gang November 23, with most of the suspected being heads and staff of orphanages around Hunan.

The following is commentary by Brian Stuy of Research-China.Org:

The Finances of Baby Trafficking: The recent news story of baby trafficking in the Hunan Province of China offers a disturbing view into the hidden market for young children. Although many Western adoptive parents read such stories with awe and puzzlement, this case has struck particularly close to home, given the involvement of individuals involved with the international adoption program. This recent event represents a convergence of two powerful market forces, the international adoption program, and the domestic demand in China for infants. Unfortunately, Western News organizations have misunderstood both the causes and forces behind these stories.

Popular Items

Since I started this blog in 2003, I've tried to list items that may be of interest to China-adoptive families. This is a list of what's been most popular:

Mulan Special Edition (DVD)

Big Bird in China (DVD)

China's Lost Girls

Adoption...the Songs you Love

Chinese Lullabies

Just Add One Chinese Sister

Ruby's Wish

Featured Flickr Photo

westlake


(Courtesy of lil aNNa)

Bird Flu News

Chinese girl has deadly bird flu: A 10-year-old girl in China has been diagnosed with the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus. The girl, from the southern Guangxi region, is the country's fourth confirmed case in the last month.

China Related TV

China Sprout posts a much-appreciated weekly guide for China Related TV listings.

Chinese Translation

Have no the adult the child that look after with the old man prohibition against the next sea swimming
A set of rules on a Chinese beach, photographed by my dad, November 2005.

(Courtesy of Sockeyed)

This was highlighted on boingboing.net. See if you can understand the English!

Featured Flickr Photo

Night stroll
along the outer walls of the Forbidden City

(Courtesy of Junk Girl)

Picture of the Day

Tai Shan, a giant panda cub, enjoys itself at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington D.C in the United State on November 29, 2005.

[Update: More photos here.]

Local Story

Laying yourself bare in front of strangers: He may be better known for his comments on interest rates and inflation, but ANZ chief economist Saul Eslake has also become well-versed in matters of inter-country adoption.

[Note, some may find the following comment interesting, "The people who do adopt children tend to be those who are moderately comfortable to well-off, and they are doing it for their own reasons as well as noble ones."]

News

Hunan welfare organizations involved in infant trafficking: Seven leaders and staff members of two welfare organizations in central China's Hunan province were taken into custody under suspicion of infant trafficking, the local pubic security bureau reported.

Toxins Make Second China City Cut Water: Another town on a poisoned Chinese river shut down its water system Wednesday after Communist Party members went door-to-door giving out bottled water in an effort to show that China's leaders can protect the public from the latest environmental disaster.

China's new rules open door to Amway, Avon, others: The Amway way is outlawed in China no more. The Avon lady is legal. Mary Kay can spread her pink gospel door-to-door in the world's biggest consumer market.

China marks World AIDS Day, but faces uphill battle against spread: AIDS Day with public awareness campaigns and a vow to keep HIV cases under 1.5 million, but experts said the country still faces an uphill battle in dealing with the crisis

China torture 'still widespread': A UN special envoy has said torture remains widespread in China but appears to be declining in urban areas.

Local Story

Hearts that can leap the world: Food's not the only thing Pete's generous with. He's got a big heart for children as well. So does Eileen. That's why the couple jumped all the hurdles, unraveled all the red tape and paid all the fees to adopt Raeann, Stephanie and Alexis from China -- not all at the same time, either. Three decisions, three procedures, three trips to China.