Visit to Zhi Bei’s Orphanage, Day 15, February 18th

Today David and Ann’s dad Steve went to orphanage while Ann stayed with Zhi Bei back in the hotel. The orphanage director and all involved felt like it would be easier on Zhi Bei to not go through another separation from her care givers there. We cannot express our gratitude enough to her care givers at the orphanage. It is obvious she received a great deal of love and care from the staff there. While it made for difficult separation moments, in the long run it will hopefully make Zhi Bei’s attachment to us easier. We had a chance to meet one of her primary care givers that spent some time with Zhi Bei during her hospital stay in Beijing in the summer of 2006 for her cleft repair. Apparently the orphanage director herself brought her to Beijing for the procedure and then asked her caregiver to travel to Beijing on the weekends to be with her.

The orphanage itself was very clean but also very clearly an institutional setting. As we knew going in, we were not allowed to take any photographs inside and only spent about 10 minutes outside of the reception area. We did get to see where Zhi Bei slept with 8 other girls her age, meet her best friend Chang Chang, and see her group at play in a playroom which resembled a dance studio with a mirror and rail on one wall. There were lots of windows and light in the sleeping area and play area. David had brought his laptop to share some of the digital photos of our time with Bei Bei with the orphanage director. This seemed to be appreciated greatly and David copied several of the photos to a jump drive that one of the staff members at the orphanage had. The orphanage director presented us with a beautiful glass block with an image of the orphanage building etched into it as a keepsake. She encouraged us to bring Zhi Bei back to visit sometime in the future and it was once again very clear the immense affection these care givers had for Bei Bei.

Once we left the orphanage we returned to the hotel to pick up Ann and Bei Bei to go get lunch. We then visited St Sophia’s Cathedral, an old Russian Orthodox Church that was now a museum on Harbin. Once we departed there we returned to Walmart to buy some clothes for the orphanage, Bei Bei’s best friend at the orphanage Chang Chang and of course for Bei Bei herself.

Later in the evening David walked down to the river front and took a few pictures of the frozen river and the pedestrian street. He also went back past Bei Bei's finding place, the Friendship Palace Hotel. Ultimately there was nothing new to be gleaned from or about her finding place. David was struck by the thousands of apartments in the area and the knowledge that he could be walking among Bei Bei's birth parents, or even her sibling(s).

Front Door of the Friendship Palace Hotel