The orphanage visit

Today we visited the Qingdao City orphanage. It was disappointing, because this is not where my daughter was closely affiliated with, and this is not where we requested to visit. Our request to visit her "orphanage" or "community center" as we call it or "foster base office" as they call it has been denied. This is where I clearly see how our two cultures differ in so many ways. What would be the harm in our seeing where our daughter went to Kindergarten, meeting the teacher she adores and had been promised to visit, and being shown a few of the places that are dear to her? But alas, I must leave that aside and tell you about the wonderful day we did share together here in Qingdao:

We only saw a glimpse of about 6 children. Michael and I had a candid discussion of how we both believe visiting parents should be permitted to photograph as families can be found much more quickly when they have pictures, know someone who has met their child to verify (somewhat) that the referral need matched the child and how the child is doing, which is so important. We also discussed how some centers are stickers for following the rules to a "t" and others bend them ever so slightly in order to find families. He reminded me that this orphanage did nothing wrong and everything right . . . technically.

So here are some photos that YiLi and I did take . . .

I think I will create a separate post for thr sightseeing photos, as as not to risk being kicked off the vpn.