Chenzhou
Chenzhou Children's Welfare Institution
Shan Chuan Tang, South Street
Chenzhou, Hunan, China
423000
Half the Sky Children's Center #7 opened in November 2002.
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Baby Sisters Infant Nurture Program since November 2002 |
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Little Sisters Preschool Program since November 2002 |
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Big Sisters Program since 2003 |
CHENZHOU
Chenzhou is the southern gateway of Hunan Province situated at the foot of Qitianling Hill in the Nanling Mountain Range.
Chenzhou is rich in mineral resources, including major deposits of tungsten, bismuth and molybdenum, and a coal reserve estimated at 1.1 billion tons. The United Nations has recognized Chenzhou as a small hydraulic power producing center; Chenzhou is the major supplier of energy to Guangdong Province, Hong Kong and Macao.
In Chenzhou you can visit a sculpture of Soo Yoo, a famous native son from the Han Dynasty. Soo Yoo was born with special powers and was then abandoned in a cave. A white deer fed him and a crane gave him warmth. As a young child, he would go with other children to take livestock to graze. Soo Yoo was good to his mother and told her there would be a plague. To cure the plague, he told her to draw water from the well and boil it with tangerine leaves. Because of Soo Yoo’s legacy, the people of Chenzhou are said to have good hearts and a gift for treating illnesses. And it is also said that it is because of Soo Yoo’s special powers that to this day, cows and buffalo will go out to graze and return home on their own.
Chenzhou is also home to a volleyball training camp where the famousChinese national women's volleyball team, winner of five championships, trains.
Near Chenzhou is the Wugai Mountain, 1,600 meters above sea level. Sambar (Asian deer), wild boar and chamois (a goat-like animal) live in the dense woods that cover the mountain.
Suxian Hill, about 1.5 km east of Chenzhou covers 15 square kilometers. Beautiful peaks and dense forests have earned Suxian Hill the moniker, "the 18th blessed land in China."
Dongjiang Lake is wide and misty, dotted with islets and docks. Around it mountains rise and fall and embrace new small villages, a picturesque meeting of mountains and water. Dongjiang fish is renowned for being sweet as well as tender.
Chenzhou style food is milder than other varieties of Hunan food. Specialties include hot and sour taro and beef and snail, and preserved taro stem and duck; the crispy and slightly sour preserved taro stem is said to offset the greasiness of the duck.
If you adopted a child who was in a Chenzhou Half the Sky program, we are happy to send you whatever progress reports and photographs we may have in our files, but only after you've brought your child home. Please download and fill out a progress report request form and follow the instructions for faxing or emailing to Half the Sky.