Guizhou

Hannah was born in Guizhou Province in Southwestern China. She was found the day she was born at the town goverment building in Nanshao. You will find Nanshao on some maps, but don't bother trying to find out anything else about this town. I have tried and can find nothing. Very shortly thereafter she was taken to the county government office of Jianhe County. A few days later she was taken to Kaili to the Qiandongnan SWI. A week after she was born she was placed in foster care where we believe she remains today. Her birthday will be October 23. At first we hoped we would be with her on this special day, but Deann communicated with another mother in our travel group whose daughter was born October 26 and she would likely miss her daughters's first birthday also. This very sensible mother said she was glad her daughter would spend her first birthday with her foster parents as they deserve one last special occasion with the foster daughter they have devoted their lives to. Well, this put it into perspective for us. Sometimes we can be so selfish, only thinking of ourselves. Now we are at peace with missing Hannah's first birthday and are glad for the foster parents.

General Musings
Guizhou, "No three days without rain, no three cents, and no three feet that are flat". How depressing a description. The infant mortality was 50% in 1934. Parents waited a month after their childrens birth to celebrate. The people plant, tend and harvest rice on terraces carved into the hillsides using oxen. This back breaking work has produced a hardy, strong people who take nothing for granted. The landscape is beautiful in all the pictures we have seen. There are more Chinese minority groups in Guizhou than any other province. The area were Hannah was found is know as The Autonomous Prefecture of the Dong & Miao Minorities. One description I read about the people of Jianhe County is the are fair skinned, strong and beautiful. If you know anything about these areas of China please post them in the comments section.