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Quality Product
Order On-line Tracking
Timely Delivery
Credit Rating
Credit Services
Credit Purchasing
Structure of Sofa Description
We are specialized in making all kinds of home furniture including but not limited to:
Modern & Classic Sofa set, Beds/Sofa bed, Recliner & Leisure chair, Dining set and so on. We use solid hardwood in our frame constructions, high quality leather a variety of beautiful fabrics, and the latest technology in cushions like high density foam and fiber wraps. All of which simply adds up to incredibly comfortable, long lasting sofas.
Packaging & Delivery of Sofa
Packaging Detail:
1.Inner layer: White pearl bag
Middle layer: Carton pad
Outer layer: Plastic bag
2.Foam and corrugated cardboard wrapping with corner protection
3.The legs are removed and packed separately
4.Outside are marked the formal handling labels, skin samples, models and specifications
Delivery Detail:New-production: 20~30 days after receiving the deposit.
1.Full dried solid hardwood frame, undergone anti-worm and polish treatment
Humidity control between 12%-15%,(international ocean transport standard)
2.Metal coil springs and fabric rubber with rust and moisture proofing treatment
3.High density elasticity foam: noted for its coziness and long durability
4.Spray-bonded cotton between the leather and foam, no sagging
5. High quality genuine leather buttoned sofas for 5-star hotels, high-end villas, lounge bars, with 5-year warranty, FR foam compliant to BS5852 & CAL117, Solid timber frame & legs, with fabric upholstery, ergonomics & comfort & aesthetics.
Chesterfield Loveseat
1.Solid birch frame
2.High-resilience foam Sponges
3.Top grain imported genuine leather covering.
Inside materials:
1. Sponge: high density for modern sofa inside;
2. Frame: sofa frame was made by dried solid wood;
3. Spring: strong spring to support sofa frame and sofa seat;
Leather options:
1.Import top grain leather+PVC
2.Full Import top grain leather
3.Chinese top grain leather+PVC
4.Full Chinese top grain leather
FAQ of Sofa
A: which kind of sofa do you have?
Q: We have chesterfields sofa, recliner sofa, sofa bed and recreational sofa.
A: What kind of material could you offer?
Q: There are full aniline leather, half aniline leather, Italian imported top grade leather, Thailand imported top grade leather, Chinese leather, bounded leather, PU, PVC, and fabric.
A: What's your mail market?
Q: AU, UK, US, and other Europe country.
A:How many density of sponge?
Q: High density elasticity foam, D32-36 for cushions, D26-28 for back & armrest, or noted for its coziness and long durability.UK BS5852 and USA CA117 fireproof foam are available
A. Leather:
We use high quality leather, and we have lot of kind leather & color for you choice.
Optional leather: a. Chinese Top Grain Leather + PVC b. Italian Top Grain Leather + PVC
c. Bonded Leather + PVC d. Full Chinese Top Grain Leather
e. Full PU
B. Fabric:
Our fabric series sofa and bed use different kind comfortable fabric, always have one kind suit customer need.
C. Wood Frame:
Kin dried solid wood frame, anti-pest treated and plywood, metal coil springs and fabric rubber.
(rust and moisture proofing treatment), humidity control between 11-14% .
D. Foam / Sponge:
High density foam: D35~45 cushions, D27~D30 for back & armrest.
100% all sponge, non-recycle sponge.
Pocket spring optional, UK/USA fire proof foam optional.
1. Manufacturer Overview
|Year Established
|Annual Output Value
|Main Markets
|Company Certifications
2. Manufacturer Certificates
|a) Certification Name
|Validity Period
3. Manufacturer Capability
|a)Trade Capacity
|Nearest Port
|Export Percentage
|No.of Employees in Trade Department
|Language Spoken:
|b)Factory Information
|Factory Size:
|No. of Production Lines
|Contract Manufacturing
|Product Price Range


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We really appreciate the support and reception that we have received during our launch. Keep checking back, as we have more exciting playhouses to bring to your living room!
Don't forget to get your submissions in for our decorating contest. For more details see the contest page or click here.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
I've heard many audiophiles complain that there are not enough affordable, excellent sounding and well made components manufactuered in the United States anymore. Yes, it is true that many European and American designers have been contracting out their manufacturing to Asia to cut costs and keep prices within reach of ordinary hifi nuts. And, yes, there are some American based manufacturers who make very fine gear, but priced for the Maserati crowd. Yet, to make a blanket statement concerning the demise of fairly priced American products is unfounded, in my opinion.
Rogue Audio is one such company that has been making very fairly priced, wonderfully built and well reviewed components since 1996. They specialize in tubed preamplifiers and amplifiers. Rogue products range in price from $995 for the Metis preamplifier to $9995 for the powerhouse Apollo mono block amplifiers. It is not uncommon today to see new companies come to market with products starting at ten or fifteen grand. So for any of those readers that may have the wrong impression, with the Rogue Metis preamp and the Atlas power amplifier, one can assemble tube separates for around $2500. In my book that is beyond affordable. The Metis and Atlas are from Rogue's entry level Titan series, which also includes the Cronus integrated tube amp. And by entry level, I don't mean chintzy. The Metis and Atlas are built like tanks and have been very positively reviewed, domestically and internationally. Rogue also offers "Magnum" upgrades to the Titan series, and under review here is the Atlas Magnum, which retails for $1895, a $400 premium over the standard Atlas.
According to Rogue, the Magnum upgrades include:
•Larger power supply
•Power supply mods
•Polypropylene bypass capacitors
•Precision Dale-Vishay resistors in critical spots
•Upgraded binding posts
•Gold tube sockets
•Upgraded small signal tubes
•KT90 output tubes
•Magnum logo on faceplate
The standard Atlas is rated at 55 wpc, and uses EL-34 tubes. The Magnum upgraded Atlas is rated at 90 wpc and currently uses KT90 power tubes. The build quality on the Atlas Magnum is off the charts impressive. I just don't see any corner cutting here. It is a very user friendly amp with tube biasing being fool proof as Rogue includes an old fashioned voltage meter built into the top of the chassis. If a tube needs adjustment, there is easy access, and a tool included, clamped to the back of the top cover; a nice touch. The only inconvenience built in, that may be a function of keeping the price low, is the need to open the chassis and manually change the output tap to an 8 ohm or 4 ohm setting; more about that later.
When I first powered up the Atlas Magnum, gave it a bit of a warm up and played some music, I immediately noticed clear differences between the Rogue and my twice as expensive Audio Research VS55 50 WPC amp, which uses 6550 output tubes. First, the bass was heavier, more controlled, and more articulate. It was not even close, much to my surprise. Secondly, the overall presentation was more dynamic, in that images were larger and more lifelike. I don't know if it was the extra power, the KT90 tubes, or the circuit topology of the Rogue, but it was clearly more extended and a bit more transparent than the VS55, especially in the lower mids on down. The VS55 seems to spotlight the midrange, and what a glorious midrange it is. ARC gear seduces listeners by playing to its strengths, those holographic mids. Only by comparison does reality hit home and the Audio Research devotee realize that they might be giving up a tiny bit at the frequency extremes. The Atlas Magnum is one of those comparative components. It seems more evenly balanced across the spectrum. But don't get me wrong, both amps offer world class sound, but the Rogue offers more weight and overall bigger sound.
With my Harbeth Compact 7 monitors, the Rogue found a very symbiotic partner. Even though it is classified as a monitor, the Compact 7 is on the large side of that category. It was able to handle the life size images and superb bass performance offered up by the Atlas Magnum. It kind of worked both ways. The Rogue showed me what a truly great speaker the Harbeth is, and the Harbeth was an excellent showcase for the Rogue. I could easily live with this combination for the rest of my days.
I experienced something interesting with the Atlas Magnum. I have always heard that more powerful amplifiers are desirable even at lower listening levels and even in smaller rooms. I had never really understood that from my own experience until now. For the first time, a more powerful amp sounded more relaxed and effortless even at moderate levels. I have had powerful solid state and tube amplifiers in my system, but never really heard the benefit in my small listening room. The Rogue was kind of an eye opener in that regard. I also have no doubt the Rogue will have no trouble in bigger rooms and with more demanding speakers, within reason of course.
I had a stack of new discs I had just received from Amazon and was eager to put the Rogue through its paces. First up was the new album from Shelby Lynne, Tears, Lies, and Alibis. Lynne's voice is a thing of beauty, and through the Rogue her delivery was presented in a lifelike, three dimensional space. She tends to favor classic recording gear, and close miking which only heightens the illusion. The spare, tasteful arrangements were also wonderfully rendered, with acoustic guitar and other instruments having tons of texture. The Steve Miller Band's super classic Fly Like an Eagle, 30th Anniversary Edition sounded huge and rocking through the Rogue. I was even able to compare the mid 90's Steve Hoffman mastered Gold Disc version, and easily heard the differences. The recent remaster is a bit louder and slightly more detailed, yet the Gold Disc was a bit more analog. It definitely held its own.
Another reworked oldie I picked up was the SACD hybrid of Elton John's Madman Across the Water, an all time favorite of mine. Unfortunately, I no longer have an SACD player on hand, so I was not able to hear the high resolution layer, but none the less, the Redbook layer sounded excellent. This was one disc that really showcased the Rogue's huge soundstaging. Vocals, string arrangements, drums, piano, and guitars all occupied rock solid positions in the mix. And the quieter passages and piano interludes flowed with delicacy and with realistic dynamics. Quite stunning, actually. This is why we love tubes.
While evaluating the Rogue, I received a pair of Thiel CS2.4 floor standing loudspeakers for review, (forthcoming). These are quite different than my Harbeths, offering a 4 ohm load (but with similar sensitivity), bass response down to 33hz, and metal dome tweeter. I did manually change to the 4 ohm tap in the procedure I described earlier. It was actually a snap, by the way. If you know how to use a screwdriver and a wrench, it is a seven minute procedure. The Thiel offers very high resolution, tremendous bass weight, and it showed me the Atlas Magnum can play with the big boys .If anything, the Thiel's power demands were easily handled by the Rogue, showing me I had previous barely scratched the surface of its reserves.
I also decided to install the Rogue in my bedroom system, driving my Spendor S5e floor standers. I thought it was a perfect match. I had never heard my beloved Spendors come alive like that. They have plenty of dynamic range but can sound polite with tamer solid state amps. I spend quite a bit of time listening to my music server with the Rogue and really enjoyed every minute. I really was not looking forward to the day when the Atlas Magnum had to go back! My FLAC files sounded awesome, and many evenings were spent bouncing between the server, listening to discs, and my Revox A77 reel to reel tape machine to boot.
I would say I enjoyed the Rogue's overall performance across multiple systems more than any other amplifier that I have had in my home. I think this is important in that I am sure it will mate well in many users systems. Rogue as a legitimate, extended dealer network, and an audition will allow you to see if it works with your speakers and set up.
The Rogue Atlas Magnum, an upgraded, turbo version of the Atlas power amplifier, was one of the best values I have come across as a reviewer. I'm still not sure how Rogue offers such a well built, wonderful sounding amplifier for $1895, and manages to hand build it at their facility in Pennsylvania. There are a number of manufacturers offering similar products, with manufacturing outsourced to China, at even higher price points. My personal preference is that when there is a similar product available and it is made domestically, it is usually gets preference. Geo political ramblings aside, the audio product in question must sound great, and give me confidence that will work for a significant number of years. The Atlas Magnum fits that bill. I used it with several speakers, preamplifiers, and cables, and its versatility is impressive. The most striking thing, as mentioned above, was the huge soundstage, along with superb bass weight and articulation, and control. It is not finicky with set up, and worked without a hitch. It does produce some heat off those KT90 tubes, so ventilation is recommended. I must all add that not once did the KT90 tubes drift from the specified bias setting, always a sign of a good circuit.
Above all, the amp was very fun to have around, much like the Manley Labs Mahi™ mono blocks I had in house last year. As a bonus it looks cool, and will fit into any décor. Now, I have not heard the standard Atlas, but it seems to me that for a very reasonable premium, you get a tremendous upgrade. Clearly, the parts quality is higher, including the binding posts etc. Of course, you may prefer El34 tubes and not need the extra power, but that is up to you to decide. The Atlas Magnum also leaves me wondering what the Rogue stuff higher in the line can do. A tip of my hat to Rogue Audio.


text:
I'm using Ubuntu-Server 12.04, but I wasn't sure if this was an Ubuntu specific question, so I'm posting it here.
I got myself a graphical user interface by installing
xinit and
openbox (using
apt-get install). I installed
guake as well (again using
apt-get install). However, when I try to run
guake in my terminal emulator (Sakura), I get the following error message:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/lib/guake/guake.py", line 1356, in <module>
if not main():
File "/usr/lib/guake/guake.py", line 1299, in main
instance = Guake()
File "/usr/lib/guake/guake.py", line 649, in __init__
glib.GError: GDBus.Error: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.freedesktop.Notifications was not provided by any .service files
How can I fix this and get
guake to run?


text:
A Text-book of Orthopedic Surgery for Nurses
W.B. Saunders Company, 1928 - Orthopedia - 353 pages
From inside the book
16 pages matching extensor in this book
Where's the rest of this book?
Results 1-3 of 16
What people are saying - Write a review
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abdomen abduction abscess acetabulum adhesive affected ankle applied arch arthritis arthrodesis atrophy bandage bath body bone brace bursitis calcaneal spur calcis capsule cartilage catgut cause cervical child clinics condition congenital contractures correct deformity diagnosis disease dislocation disturbances dorsal elbow epiphyses especially exercises extensor factors fascia feet femur flexed flexion follows foot fracture graft head heel heliotherapy Hibbs immobilization important inches infantile paralysis infection injury joint knee ligaments lordosis lumbar massage metatarsal metatarsalgia method muscle spasm muscular neck nerves neuritis nurse occur operation orthopedic orthopedic surgery osteochondritis osteotomy pads pain patient pelvis periosteum periostitis plantar fascia plaster cast position posture present prognosis pronation region relief removed rickets Roentgenograms rotation sacro-iliac scoliosis shoes shoulder skin spica spinal spine splint strapping strips structures supination syphilis tendon thigh tibia tion tissue toes traction trauma treatment consists Treatment.—The tuberculosis tuberculous usually valgus various vertebrae walking weight bearing


text:
|London 2012
|Athlete Biographies
Boudia's gold medal a step forward for US diving
By RICK FREEMAN,
Updated August 13, 2012
NEW YORK (AP) David Boudia knows about pressure. He spent the entire Beijing Olympics focusing on his diving competitions - probably a little too much.
He came home empty handed.
After that experience, he let go of the idea of winning medals above all else, and just focused on doing his best at the sport he picked up 11 years ago because his friend's father won some free lessons in an auction.
He came back from London with two medals clanking around his neck, representing a return to the Olympic success that eluded the United States for two cycles since Laura Wilkinson's surprise gold in Sydney.
How chill was Boudia? He remembers taking time to appreciate the crowd roaring, mostly for British diver Tom Daley, who had recently lost his father to cancer. He doesn't remember his winning dive.
"It's not every day you get to dive in front of 18,000 people," Boudia said. "It's crazy. I remember the swing, climbing up out of the pool and hearing the crowd."
Early on in the London Games, Boudia won a bronze in the synchronized platform event with Nicholas McCrory. Then on Saturday, he upset world champion Qiu Bo of China by less than two points to win his gold on the 10-meter platform.
The last American man to win gold in that event? Greg Louganis in 1988, when he was already famous for his accomplishments. Since then, his name has also come up when noting that no American diver has reached that level.
Laura Wilkinson won a memorable gold in 2000, but the United States was shut out - men and women, platform and springboard, synchro and solo - in 2004 and 2008.
Since then, USA diving made some changes. So did Boudia.
In Beijing, he remembers thinking about getting off the plane, winning a bunch of medals and becoming famous. All he thought about were those medals. Between competitions, he remembers all too well what he and his teammates would do.
"What we did in Beijing is we just sat there, and counted," Boudia said. "All right, 24 hours. All right, 15 hours."
It didn't go that well. He and teammate Thomas Finchum made the final, but finished fifth in the synchronized event. Solo, he finished 10th, almost 100 points behind the winner, Matthew Mitcham of Australia.
London was different right from the start for a number of reasons. Personally, Boudia credits the change to an increased focus on his religious faith, which he said let him be mentally calm. Professionally, he cited the work done by Steve Foley, whom USA Diving hired in 2009 as high-performance director, in changing the atmosphere around the team.
"Because of the direction change in USA Diving, we got out of the village," Boudia said.
The divers went north to train in Sheffield, England, and Boudia said he was able to spend some time relaxing at a house in the countryside with his sisters Shauni and Shaila. Boudia had 10 days between events, and he didn't want to repeat the slow burn of Beijing by sitting around.
"They opened up their home, they cooked for us," Boudia said, though he wanted to respect the family's privacy by not naming them. "My sisters and I got to hang out, like when we were younger, and just enjoy ourselves."
Refreshed, Boudia came back to the five-ring circus of London with a rested body and mind.
He said he didn't bother looking at the scoreboard too much. He barely made it out of prelims, qualifying 18th before a strong semifinal moved him up to medal position.
He was tied with Qiu going into the last round, and Qiu was set to go after him. Nothing else could do but what he's done so many times in practice.
He scored 102.60 points on a back 2 1/2 somersault with 2 1/2 twists pike worth a 3.6 degree of difficulty. It turned out to be the highest score of any dive in the final once Qiu followed with a 100.80, giving Boudia and the U.S. the gold by 568.65 points to Qiu's 566.85.
"I was totally relaxed, wasn't even focused on the results. Wasn't looking at the scoreboard," Boudia said. "And I really think that helped my mental game throughout the competition."
Boudia and McCrory weren't the only Americans to medal in London. Troy Dumai and Kristian Ipsen took bronze in the 3-meter synchronized springboard event, and Kelci Bryant and Abigail Johnston won silver in the women's synchro springboard.
It was a big step forward for USA diving in general, though Boudia was the only multi-medalist. His gold was the first by an American man since the late Mark Lenzi won the 3-meter springboard at the 1992 Barcelona Games - when Boudia was 3.
It was during the 1996 Games that Boudia decided he wanted to be an Olympic athlete. Having his dreams of a medal evaporate in Beijing hurt, but he found peace since then.
Qiu wasn't as calm. He appeared devastated by the result.
"I was very nervous," Qiu said through a translator. "I have competed so many times, but I have never had that much nervousness."
Qiu has time to learn, though. The 19-year-old says he'll be back in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Boudia hasn't made plans beyond his next semester at Purdue, where the 23-year-old from Noblesville, Ind., says he plans to form an intramural soccer team and stay out of the pool.
After that, he doesn't know. But whatever he does, he knows he won't hang on too tightly.
"You can get really overwhelmed with a lot of different things," Boudia said. "Knowing that I'm not in control of what happens has been just so peaceful and content in my heart."


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UC Davis Health System has established the California Health eQuality (CHeQ) program, leaders at the Institute for Population Health Improvement announced today. CHeQ seeks to improve health-care quality and the coordination of care by using health information exchange (HIE) technology to facilitate the rapid flow of information among physician offices, hospitals and other health-care providers.
Through a 16-month, $17.5 million interagency agreement with the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS), CHeQ will develop and implement HIE programs according to the state's Cooperative Grant Agreement with the federal Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. From March 2010 to August 2012, CHHS had utilized Cal eConnect, a nonprofit corporation, as California's state-designated governance entity.
CHeQ's programs intend to promote health-care quality and the coordination of care by expanding underserved communities' capacities to exchange health information or access to Direct, a simple, standards-based way for senders to push secure encrypted health information directly to trusted recipients over the Internet. CHeQ also will improve sharing of immunization, laboratory, and care information and provide tools to assist providers in identifying private, secure, standardized and trusted systems.
Kenneth W. Kizer, director of the Institute for Population Health Improvement, will lead CHeQ. Kizer has a long history of public -and private-sector experience in health-information technology, health-care quality improvement and population health. He has served as chair, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Medsphere Systems Corporation, the nation's leading commercial provider of open-source health-care information technology.
Kizer also was founding president and CEO of the National Quality Forum, a Washington, DC-based quality improvement and consensus standards-setting organization. Before that, he served as the under secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), where he led the VA's transition to electronic health records and health information exchange in the late 1990s. He also was the director of the California Department of Health Services (now the California Department of Public Health) from 1985 to 1991, where he initiated a number of leading-edge health-information management and modernization efforts.
"We want care-related information to flow safely and quickly between and among health-care providers. No more printing, scanning and faxing laboratory and X-ray results," Kizer said. "Through CHeQ, we are committed to advancing use of secure electronic exchanges of information so that care for the patient is better, and the job of providing high-quality care is easier for the caregiver."
"CHeQ's work will help California accelerate progress toward making critical patient information available when and where it is needed for care," said Pamela Lane, CHHS deputy secretary for health information exchange, who is responsible for the state's Cooperative Grant Agreement. "Under the guidance of the Institute for Population Health Improvement, the new organization will also enable us to achieve an important long-term goal for health information exchange -- using data to improve population health outcomes in California."
CHeQ will be a highly collaborative effort among CHHS, other state agencies and the full range of California health-care stakeholders -- patients, health care professionals, payers, providers and health plans. A CHeQ advisory committee and task-specific subcommittees will be appointed; additional information on these activities will be forthcoming in the near future.
Additionally, on Nov. 1-2, 2012, CHHS and CHeQ will convene the state's pre-eminent HIE meeting in Sacramento: "Transforming Healthcare: 2012 California HIE Stakeholder Summit."
UC Davis Health System is improving lives and transforming health care by providing excellent patient care, conducting groundbreaking research, fostering innovative, interprofessional education, and creating dynamic, productive partnerships with the community. The academic health system includes one of the country's best medical schools, a 631-bed acute-care teaching hospital, a 1000-member physician's practice group and the new Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. It is home to a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, an international neurodevelopmental institute, a stem cell institute and a comprehensive children's hospital. Other nationally prominent centers focus on advancing telemedicine, improving vascular care, eliminating health disparities and translating research findings into new treatments for patients. Together, they make UC Davis a hub of innovation that is transforming health for all. For more information, visit https://healthsystem.ucdavis.edu.


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To be notified of new postings, e-mail me. We also have a paid subscription blog for families interested in more detailed analysis of China's program. Due to the sensitive nature of these articles, they are available by subscription only. (http://www.research-china.org/blogs/index.htm)
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Trends of Abandonments in China
Jiangxi Province
Jiangxi Province provides more children for international adoption than any other Province in China. Largely rural, Jiangxi's orphanages submit twice as many children for international adoption per capita as the other major adopting Provinces (67.6 children submitted for IA in 2005 per million inhabitants verses around 30 children per million for Guangdong, Hunan, Guangxi and Chongqing Municipality, and 13 per million for Hubei Province).
Submission records are not available for Jiangxi in 2000, so 2003 and 2006 were used. In 2003, the top five adopting orphanages in Jiangxi were Fuzhou, Fengcheng, Xiushui, Hengfeng and Jianxin, each of whom submitted more than 100 children for international adoption, and who collectively submitted nearly 950 children, or a third of the entire Province.
Participating orphanages submitted approximately 2,700 files to the CCAA in 2003, a number that dropped to around 2,450 in 2006. To compensate for the 10% decline in submissions, the CCAA added new orphanages to the IA program, and these five new facilities submitted a little over 300 files in 2006, causing Jiangxi Province's total submission rate to remain flat over the four years.
In 2003, 37 orphanages were involved in international adoption in Jiangxi. By 2006, nineteen of those orphanages had seen their numbers decrease, four remained constant, and fourteen saw an increase in submission rates. The largest decrease was seen by the Xinyu orphanage, which saw its numbers fall from 96 submissions in 2003 to just 9 in 2006. The largest increase in the Province was in Shanggao, which saw its submissions rise from just eight in 2003 to 63 in 2006, a 687% increase.1The average number of submissions in 2003 was 74 per orphanage, a number that dropped to 66 submissions per orphanage in 2006 as smaller orphanages were brought into the IA program.
Guangdong Province
Second only to Jiangxi Province in IA submissions, Guangdong Province contains large areas of both urban (eastern) and rural (western) populations.
The top five adopting orphanages in Guangdong Province in 2000 were Guangzhou, Huazhou, Lianjiang, Maoming, and Zhanjiang, each of which submitted in excess of 100 files for international adoption. Collectively, these five orphanages submitted 720 children for adoption in 2000, or 40% of the total for the Province.
By 2005, only two of the top five from 2000 remained there – Zhanjiang and Huazhou. Huazhou had experienced a 33% decline in the five years, while Zhanjiang had increased by 28%. Maoming's place in the top five was replaced by her sister orphanage Maonan, which was created in 2002 as a district of Maoming, and whose geographical boundaries were once part of Maoming City's. Taken together, Maonan and Maoming City's submissions for 2005 were 232, the second highest submission for all of Guangdong.
The highest number of children submitted in 2005 were from the Yangxi orphanage. Yangxi joined the IA program in 2002, and submitted 262 files to the CCAA in 2005. The last orphanage in the top five was Gaozhou, which saw a 265% increase in submissions between 2000 and 2005. Thus, by the end of 2005, the top five orphanages in Guangdong Province were the Yangxi, Gaozhou, Huazhou, Zhanjiang, and Maonan orphanages.
Taken collectively the ten orphanages that experienced increases more than offset the twenty-two orphanages in Guangdong that remained the same or decreased. In 2000, all 32 orphanages in the IA program submitted 1,813 children for international adoption. In 2005, those same orphanages submitted 1,908, a 5% increase. Additionally, the CCAA added a total of 21 new orphanages to the program, which submitted nearly 700 children of their own to the CCAA. Thus, for 2005 Guangdong Province submitted a total of 2,603 children for adoption, a 44% increase over 2000.
The increasing submission rates in western Guangdong from 2000 to 2003 drew the attention of the CCAA, and an investigation was launched in early 2004 at several orphanages in Western Guangdong Province. Files were inspected, and finding records verified in Maoming, Gaozhou, Huazhou, DianBai, Wuchuan, and several other orphanages. Apparently no impropriety was found, although record-keeping irregularities were found in Huazhou. Most orphanages reached a submission peak in 2003, and have been declining since then, although submission rates in 2005 were still generally higher than 2000.
Hunan Province
In 2000, Hunan had 23 orphanages participating in the international adoption program. The top five orphanages in adoptions for 2000 were Zhuzhou, Yueyang City, Changde, Yiyang, and Shaoyang, all of whom submitted in excess of 120 children each in 2000. The remaining 18 orphanages ranged from eight (Yuanjiang, Miluo) to 98 (Xiangtan). With 663 submissions, the top five orphanages represented nearly half of the adoptions for all of Hunan Province.
By 2005, only Yiyang remained in the top five, although IA submissions had risen nearly 50%. Zhuzhou's adoptions for 2005 were 74, a 47% decline from 2000. Yueyang City fell 76% to 33, Shaoyang fell 58% to 51. Although Changde was unchanged over the five-year period, a new group of orphanages rose to push Changde out of the top five.
Taken as a group, Hunan's orphanages active in the IA program submitted almost 1,400 files to the CCAA in 2000. These same orphanages actually increased their submissions through 2005, but the increase can be mostly attributed to a small number of orphanages. Of the 23 orphanages in the program in 2000, ten of them remained unchanged or decreased the number of submissions made in 2005 when compared with 2000. Changsha First saw its numbers increase over 100% to 142 files submitted in 2005. Yueyang County saw its numbers increase 150% to 75, even while her sister orphanage, Yueyang City, saw its numbers drop 76%, resulting in a net decline for the area. The CCAA invited more orphanages into the IA program, adding Yuanling in 2001, Hengdong and Zhijiang in 2002, Zhishan in 2003, Hengnan, Linxiang, Huaihua and Lanshan in 2004, and Xiangxi, Fengyu, and Ningyuan in 2005. These additions boosted the number of files submitted in 2005 by over 500, for a total of nearly 2,400 submissions in 2005, a 71% increase from 2000.
In looking at Hunan, one might draw the conclusion that this is one Province that is actually increasing their adoption rates, and while it is true that a majority of Hunan's orphanages increased submissions from 2000 to 2005, a deeper analysis of the numbers shows that the bulk of Hunan's increase can be attributed to just six orphanages, three of which are the principle orphanages involved in the Hunan trafficking scandal: Qidong, Hengshan and Hengyang County. The two other orphanages involved in the scandal were not in the IA program in 2000, but by 2005 both of these orphanages were submitting in excess of 100 files each, the largest number of any of the new Hunan orphanages that joined after 2000.
Qidong submitted 30 files to the CCAA in 2000, roughly half of the Provincial average of 60. By 2005, however, the trafficking of children had boosted Qidong's submissions to almost 150, a four-fold increase. Qidong's partners in the trafficking ring experienced equally impressive increases. Hengshan's numbers jumped from 40 to over 120, a 200% increase, and Hengyang County, the ringleader of the trafficking ring, saw its numbers skyrocket from 13 submissions in 2000 to over 118 in 2005, an 800% increase. Only one other orphanage in Hunan saw similar increases. Although not implicated in the trafficking story, Yongzhou saw its adoption submissions jump from 35 in 2000 to over 185 in 2005, an increase of 431%. It is perhaps not coincidental that Yongzhou2 lies in the same vicinity as Qidong, Hengyang, and the others. One must also wonder why no alarms went off in Beijing like it had with Guangdong.3
Given the complexities of the baby trafficking case, and its unknown breadth in Hunan, it is difficult to assess if Hunan's numbers naturally increased or decreased over the 2000 to 2005 time period.
Guangxi Province
In 2000, thirteen orphanages were participating in the IA program in Guangxi. The top five orphanages in 2000 were Nanning, Baihai, Wuzhou, Mother's Love, and Guilin, which together submitted almost 600 files for adoption, or 60% of the nearly 1,000 submitted by the entire Province. Only three orphanages submitted more than 100 children for adoption, Baihai, Wuzhou and Nanning, which was the largest orphanage for adoptions with over 200.
Total adoptions increased slightly from 2000 to 2005, but average submissions fell from 76 per orphanage in 2000 to 53 per orphanage in 2005. The orphanages participating in 2000 collectively submitted a little over 1,000 files to the CCAA in 2005, a 4% increase. As a group, slightly more than half (7) of the orphanages experienced declines, and six increased their submission rates. Additionally, the CCAA added eleven additional orphanages to the IA program, which collectively submitted around 250 files for adoption. With the addition of these eleven orphanages, international adoptions increased 30% in Guangxi from 2000 to 2005.
Several orphanages saw substantial increases over that period, however. Baihai increased its submissions 42% to 142 file submissions in 2005, while Yulin City more than doubled their adoption rate from 40 to 125. Hepu also more than doubled its submissions to 64, while Guiping experienced the largest growth of all of the Guangxi orphanages, increasing 240% from 2000 to 2005. In 2005, the top five orphanages were Baihai, Yulin, Nanning, Guilin and Guiping, three of whom were also in the top five in 2000.
Chongqing Municipality
Prior to 1997, Chongqing Municipality was part of Sichuan Province, and many adoptive families still refer to Chongqing in that way. In 1997, Chongqing City was merged with Fuling, Wanxian and Qianjiang to form Chongqing Municipality in a desire by China's central government to increase development in the western regions of China.
In 2003, the CCAA began opening orphanages in the various districts around Chongqing, including Qianjiang, Hechuan, Liangping, Wanzhou, and others. The number of orphanages in Chongqing Municipality tripled in 2003 to nine. An additional three orphanages were opened in 2004, one in 2005, and two more in 2006 (although these two have not yet adopted internationally). By the end of 2006, 14 orphanages were adopting, or in the process of adopting, children internationally in Chongqing.
Prior to 2003, the largest adopting orphanage was Fuling District, which submitted 569 files to the CCAA. Chongqing City was the next largest, with 173 submissions in 2003. The rest of the top five were Dianjiang, Qianjiang, and Liangping, each of which submitted over 100 files to the CCAA. In all, 1,367 children were submitted for adoption in 2003.
Like most Provinces, Chongqing Municipality-area orphanages as a whole saw its numbers decrease. In 2006, the total number of files submitted for international adoption had decreased 33% to 910. The change was sporadic and inconsistent: Fuling's adoptions dropped 76% (to 135), while Xiushan increased over 600% (to 153). In 2006, the top five orphanages were Xiushan, Fuling, Qianjiang, Dianjiang, and Banan, with two of that group submitting less than 100 dossiers to the CCAA. On average, Chongqing's orphanages submitted 136 files in 2003, an average that dropped to 60 in 2006.
Hubei Province
Hubei has the lowest ratio of IA submissions per capita of any of the main Provinces (13 submissions in 2005 per million people). In 2000, the largest submitting orphanage was Huanggang, the only orphanage to submit more than 100 files to the CCAA. The other orphanages in the top five were Wuhan (94), Dawu (44), Daye (44) and Wuxue (43). The top five orphanages submitted in total 327 files in 2000, comprising nearly half of the children internationally adopted in the entire Province (676).
Like Guangxi, Hubei's adoption rate stayed nearly constant among the orphanages participating in the IA program in 2000. Six orphanages joined the IA program, and these orphanages submitted only 73 files combined in 2005.
By 2005, Huanggang remained in first place, increasing submissions 22% to 124, still the only orphanage in Hubei to submit more than 100 files. Wuhan remained in second place, practically unchanged over the five years. Third place was a relatively unknown orphanage in 2000, Tuanfeng, which saw a dramatic increase of over 240% in the five years, submitting 65 files in 2005. The remaining orphanages in the top five were also newcomers: Qichun (58) and Chongyang (35).
In all, eighteen orphanages had their numbers decrease from 2000 to 2005, while twelve had increases.
From the analysis of the six primary Provinces involved in the International Adoption program in China, one can see that the submission rate is generally trending lower, but with pockets of exceptions (see table below). Taken collectively, two Provinces experienced declines (Chongqing, Jiangxi), two remained essentially flat (Guangxi, Hubei), and one was slightly higher (Guangdong). Hunan was substantially higher, but a large part of that increase was due to trafficked children.
In 2000 (2003 in the case of Chongqing and Jiangxi), nearly 9,000 files were submitted by the six Provinces to the CCAA for international adoption. That number fell to a little over 8,700 (a 4% decline) for those same orphanages in 2005 and 2006 (including the Hunan orphanages), and totaled almost 10,700 when the orphanages added to the program since 2000 are added in. This increase tracks with the increasing numbers of adoptions conducted in China (5,053 by the U.S. in 2000, 7,906 by the U.S. in 2005). One can clearly see that as file submissions decline from participating orphanages, additional orphanages are "invited" into the program. Thus, a delicate supply-demand balance is maintained.
But these orphanages, on average, brought fewer and fewer children into the program. Whereas in 2000 the average number of files submitted by each orphanage was 61, by 2005 that number had decreased to 49. If there were hidden pockets of thousands of children, it seems the CCAA would have drawn on them. Instead, new orphanages are, with a few exceptions, small facilities that bring relatively few children into the program. Additionally, many of the new orphanages are simply district orphanages, drawing children from the larger city and county orphanages. This is the case with such orphanages as Maonan district (taken from Maoming City), Qianjiang District (taken from Chongqing City), and so on.
Unfortunately, several factors prevent us from drawing too many conclusions as to how accurately the submission rates of the individual orphanages reflects trends in abandonment rates, since we are not able to determine the other major component in the equations: Domestic adoption rates from these same orphanages. It is possible, for example, that the abandonment rates might be increasing in some areas, but that domestic adoption rates are increasing faster, thus lowering submissions to the IA program. This would lead one to falsely conclude that abandonment rates were decreasing in that area.
Conversely, if abandonment rates are falling in an orphanage's jurisdiction, but that orphanage is doing fewer domestic adoptions, naturally their submission rate to the CCAA would increase, falsely leading one to conclude that abandonment rates are increasing in that area.
Therefore, one can not make any firm conclusions on abandonment rates on the basis of IA submissions unless other information can be factored into the equation.
One such additional source of information are the directors of the orphanages themselves. In early 2006 I conducted a survey of all of the directors involved with international adoption at that time. In the course of the conversation, seventeen directors directly spoke about abandonment rates, indicating in every case that abandonment rates were falling.
In a few cases, there are orphanages that do only international adoptions, domestic families being barred from applying. This is the case, for example, in Liangping and Qianjiang orphanages in Chongqing. In these two cases we don't need to wonder if domestic adoptions are impacting our perception of abandonment rates, for nearly every child found in these areas are submitted to the CCAA for adoption.4 Between 2003 (when these orphanages opened) and 2006, both Liangping and Qianjiang orphanages experienced declines in adoption submissions (68% and 12% respectively). Thus, we can safely conclude that at least in these two areas, abandonment rates are declining.
In the case of one orphanage, we do have the number of domestic adoptions that were performed, and we can thus determine its core abandonment rate. Guangzhou orphanage in Guangdong performed a total of 680 adoptions in 2000. Of these, 547 were domestic and 133 were international. The total number of adoptions fell to 194 in 2005, with 148 of those being domestic adoptions, and 46 being international. Thus, although Guangzhou shows a decline in international adoptions from 2000 to 2005 of 66%, total adoptions fell 71%, showing that the abandonment rate in Guangzhou fell more than the international adoption rate.
This example illustrates one problem with drawing conclusions of abandonment rates based on international adoption rates. It seems likely that a director could, upon recording declining numbers of children entering his or her orphanage, shift a greater percentage of those children from the domestic adoption program to the international adoption program. The reason for doing so is obvious: International Adoption provides more funding to the orphanage than domestic adoptions, since few Chinese can match the $3,000 adoption fee required of international families. Thus, even though abandonment rates in a given orphanage district decrease, that orphanage might respond to this decline by submitting a greater percentage of the children to the international adoption program. This would result in our analysis showing an increase over the five year period, falsely leading us to assume abandonment rates are increasing in that area, when in fact the opposite is true.
That this is occurring is supported by the results of our 2006 survey of directors, which revealed that over 90% of the more than 250 orphanages surveyed refused to adopt a child to a domestic family. In fact, the vast majority of orphanages report long waiting lists of domestic families seeking to adopt, even while those same orphanages continue participating in the IA program.
Another component in the equation is the ratio of healthy to special needs children being found in China. This ratio was addressed by many directors in our survey, when they stated that the number of "special" children to healthy children was increasing. Thus, an orphanage may submit 100 files in both 2000 and 2005, but if the number of special needs children is increasing, a declining percentage of those 100 files will be for healthy children.
Files submissions, interviews, anecdotal evidence, and economic and sociological trends in China all point to a reduction in the number of healthy children being abandoned in China. While the number of healthy children being abandoned is decreasing, the number of special needs children being abandoned seems to be increasing. But this trend is not universal. Western Guangdong Province, for example, seems to have experienced increasing abandonment rates in recent years, to the point where investigations were conducted to rule out trafficking.
Thus, it seems that although the CCAA can take limited steps to increase the number of children available for international adoption, trends in China show that the number of healthy children will continue to decline.
For 2006, Guangdong Province orphanages submitted a total of 1,906 files, a decline of 27% from 2005 figures. Interestingly, all of 2005's Top Five orphanages saw significant declines: Gaozhou declined 74%, Huazhou declined 57%, Zhanjiang declined 56%, Yangxi declined 18%, and Maonan-Maoming declined 37%.
1. For the purpose of these calculations, only orphanages that submit more than five files in any given year are considered in high and low classifications. This is to prevent a distortion of trends, such as using an orphanage that submitted one file in 2000 and 4 in 2005. Although the orphanage did increase its submissions by 400%, I felt such an increase is not representative of the true conditions.
2. I have no solid evidence that Yongzhou trafficked children, but I am impressed by the increase this orphanage has experienced. The orphanages implicated in the trafficking were "shut down" for most of 2006, and thus had very few files submitted to the CCAA (they began to submit again in the fourth quarter 2006). Yongzhou, however, submitted children throughout the year, with its numbers falling to 114 in 2006, a 38% decline from 2005.
3. It is, of course, possible that the CCAA was already aware of the trafficking problems in Hunan when the story broke in late 2005.
4. The only children that are not submitted to the CCAA are those with debilitating deformities or severe mental incapacities (see my blog essay "Creating Paper-Ready Babies" on the procedures and constraints for submitting files by the orphanages).
Table of Provinces:
Province 2000/ 2005a/ 2005b
Jiangxi = 2,735 ('03)/2,453('06)/2,769 ('06)
Guangdong = 1,813/1,908/2,603
Hunan = 1,397/1,875/2,396
Chongqing = 1,367 ('03)/837 ('06)/910 ('06)
Guangxi = 988/1,026/1,288
Hubei = 676/650/723
Total = 8,976/8,749/10,689
a denotes totals for those orphanages that were involved in the IA program in 2000. This column allows a true "apples-to apples" comparison in submission rates between 2000 and 2005.
b denotes totals for the Province, including 2000 orphanages plus orphanages added to the IA program since 2000.
43 comments:
Brian, would you give the numbers for Yiyang in Hunan please? You noted the numbers for the other top 5 and their decrease, but would like to know Yiyang's.
Also, when you say that you cannot tell if Hunan increased or decreased given trafficking, I'm curious. It looks as though Hunan increased by 500 some adoptions - surely you're not saying that 500 or more were trafficked, are you? That seems quite different than all the reports, so would value clarification from you.
- Research-China.Org said...
Yiyang increased from 130 submissions in 2000 to 194 in 2005, a 50% increase.
No, I'm not suggesting that there were 500 trafficked children in 2005, just that given the uncertainty of Hunan's "natural" submission numbers for 2005, it is difficult to get a fix on it would have done absent the trafficking. It seems likely it would have increased.
While I understand the caution at which you view Yongzhou's increase in submissions, one thing must be kept in mind. Yongzhou is a complicated orphanage system with nine orphanages participating under the umbrella name of Yongzhou SWI. Since many of the smaller orphanages are not approved to do IA, children's files are transferred to the main Yongzhou SWI and then submitted for adoption. This may account for the increase in numbers as families since 2003 have learned of more county orphanages entering the "umbrella" and sending children's files.
Excellent summary;informative....
What is your source for # of IAs from each orphanage? I would be interested in seeing the numbers for my daughters' orphanages, Lengshuitan in Yongzhou and Xiangyin in the north of Hunan.
- Research-China.Org said...
Dear SRM:
Thanks for the information on Yongzhou.
- Research-China.Org said...
Each child has a finding ad placed prior to submission to the CCAA. By counting the number of finding ads placed by each orphanage, their submissions can be tracked.
Yongzhou's numbers are in the essay, but was flat, with 45 in 2000 and 46 in 2005.
- travelmom and more said...
Under the Hague convention has the processing for domestic adoptions changed? I thought I had heard that the CCAA now overseas both domestic and international adoption.
When I was in YangXi, Guangdong last July the director said that since opening three years ago the number of domestic adoptions has increased a lot. She said the first year they were open all the children were being adopted internationally, but now about a quarter to a half were being adopted domestically. She said she thought domestic adoptions would continue to increase. She also said that they were finding more children as word was spreading that the SWI was in the area.
I think there is also an increase number of found babies in areas where population inforcement is more prevelant than in those where it is not as common. It would be interesting to see founding data coupled with population campaigns.
- Research-China.Org said...
Although officially the CCAA controls both international and domestic adoption through control of the local Civil Affairs Bureaus, in actuality it is still very much a local program. "On the ground" nothing has changed as far as the process for domestic adoption (see my "Domestic Adoption in China" essay for the details).
The Yangxi director's comments that abandonment rates have increased as word has spread of the orphanage opening is interesting, and seems to be supported in many other areas. In Maoming, for example, total numbers of children have increased as each new orphanage has opened, making one wonder why China is opening new facilities. In many cities and counties the new orphanages are simply cannibalizing children from the city or county orphanages, and all remain severely under-utilized.
And yes, it would be VERY interesting to overlay abandonment patterns with Family Planning campaigns. If anyone can figure out how to do that, let us know!
Very interesting piece--thanks for all the work you put into it.
Since you are basing your figures on the number of finding ads (which I think probably has a lot of merit), do you have any idea what percentage of those with finding ads get adopted?
If a finding ad is placed, does this mean the child is only available for IA? Do they run finding ads for SN children?
Also just an editorial comment: I don't think you ever mention where in the article where you get your submission figures from, and it might be helpful for you to do that. Or use the phrase "finding ads" instead of submissions or in conjunction with submissions.
All along I was wondering were your info was coming from--thought maybe CCAA. I couldn't figure out why you just didn't compare the number of finding ads--which IS what you were doing.
- Research-China.Org said...
Finding ads are placed for every child submitted for international adoption. If the child is healthy and young (under 2 years) there is a virtual certainty they are adopted. Special needs children have less certainty, depending on their need.
I did bring up the finding ads in a comment (see above), but appreciate your comment.
Thanks for the numbers for Yiyang, Brian, and for the clarification that you're not saying 500 children were trafficked in Hunan. Given the press reports, then, I think one CAN say that Hunan DID increase over that period of time.
Bryan, as mother of o wonderful Huazhou daugther I am really worrie about the Houazhou irregularities you are wirting about. Please, could you explain more details about this issue? It is really important for me to know everything in order to be able to explain to my daugther in the future when she will find out this kind of information in internet. Thank you.
- Research-China.Org said...
Unfortunately, we don't know much. I was simply told that the CCAA (through the Provincial Civil Affairs office) audited the finding documentation from many orphanages in Western Guangdong, and that Huazhou's files had issues. I have my own suspicions, but all we know is that there was at a minimum sloppy record keeping.
Hi Brian,
Thank you for posting these numbers and naming the orphanages involved. We are interested in this information because our daughter was at Changsha First during the latter part of the period for which you are reporting. From the information that we have been able to obtain, Changsha First appears not to have been investigated as part of the baby trafficking scandal. Nevertheless, we wonder what you think the 100% increase in files for this period might be attributed to?
Also, we have asked for information about the Hunan trafficking scandal through our Adoption Agency and have received nothing of substance. They do not comment on individual orphanages at all and give very sketchy information about the story in general. They are certainly not attempting to educate their membership about what went on there. From reading the chat groups I gather that this is quite typical. Given that the agencies present themselves as acting in the best interest of the adoptees, and one would hope that they are relatively well informed about the details of what when on in Hunan, why do you think they are so reticent to provide information that relates so intimately to our children's past?
I would just like to comment on your comments regarding the Yongzhou SWI, I did see that someone posted regarding the Yongzhou system. It is indeed made up of about 9 SWI's that feed into the Yongzhou name. We can determine what facility the children come from by the naming system. My daughter is from the Dao SWI and had a name Yong Dao Yu for example. Now that trend for Dao is different as beginning 1 year ago (June 06) Dao was approved to submit directly to the CCAA withough going thru the Yongzhou system and the naming has changed since that date. We saw the first referrals for DaoXian show up in Dec 06, I believe. I have followed the Hunan scandal from the beginning and have read your thoughts as well. I also have a close friend with a child from Hengdong adopted in the time frame of the scandal with lots of things that don't add up and have talked thru a lot of different scenerios and what ifs. Having said all that, I truly don't believe the conclusion you infere about Yongzhou to be on target. Because these children are coming from so many different SWI's the increase would not be out of the realm. And now we will have a few of those SWI's submitting indepentenly, the numbers will decrease for Yongzhou SWI. Please feel free to contact me if you need more info on the Yongzhou system as we know it.
M. Miller
Do you think the referrals have gotten so much slower because there are truly fewer babies being abandoned, or do you think the CCAA has imposed quotas?
- Research-China.Org said...
I know there are people asserting that there are quotas, but these people have obviously never spoken with a single director about this topic. There are no quotas.
The orphanages are providing as many children as they can, and there are fewer of those children available.
- Research-China.Org said...
M. Miler:
I appreciate your input on Yongzhou. I tried to soft pedal the assertions on Yongzhou because I realize there are factors that I am not aware of.
However, aside from the scandal orphanages, no orphanage has increased in adoptions as much as Yongzhou. It could very well be that abandonments in that area are increasing dramatically.
- Research-China.Org said...
In reply to Anonymous regarding agencies:
I think that agencies are in the unenviable position of being caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand they are interested in helping families as much as possible (hopefully), but on the other hand the CCAA has clearly communicated to them that "rocking the boat" will jeopardize their future ability to do adoptions in China. Thus, agencies generally discourage families from contacting the orphanages prior to adoption, discourage families from traveling to orphanages while adopting, and require all post-adoption contact to channel through the CCAA.
The agencies feel they must obey these restrictions out of fear of the CCAA. Thus, questions regarding the Hunan scandal, etc. are fraught with problems for agencies since asking the CCAA about these issues will likely result in reprimands.
The final result is you will not get much cooperation from agencies on these matters. But understand it is really not the agencies fault, since the restrictions are placed by the controlling force -- the CCAA.
- malinda said...
Do you draw any conclusions as to why abandonment rates might be falling?
It wouldn't be surprising that more families are choosing to parent their children given the better economic position of some families in China -- China is touting the 1.3 million people it raised from poverty last year. It also seems that the gender imbalance is softening the central government's stance on enforcement of the one family, one child policy. And some provinces are heavily promoting the value of daughters.
But it could also be a lower birth rate because of more contraceptive use and more abortions.
- Ray said...
The largest increase in the Province was in Shanggao, which saw its submissions rise from just eight in 2003 to 63 in 2006...
In 2004, we adopted our daughter from Jiangxi province, Shanggao orphanageSWI2003. In our travel group, there were six or seven other families who adopted children from that orphanage. Some, like ours, were in foster care for most of the time. All were about the same age, or at least had 2003 birthdays and/or "found" dates.
Is it possible that our group adopted all of the children Shanggao SWI submitted in 2003? That seems strange. I visited that orphanage in March 2004 and there seemed to be quite a few children there, most of them found in 2003.
- Research-China.Org said...
It would be possible to determine if your group adopted the eight files submitted in 2003 (as seems likely). I have never been to that orphanage, so have limited insight into its adoption patterns. The lead-time from the finding ad publication (the first step for international adoption) and actual referral averages 6-8 months. Thus, children in the orphanage in March 2004 may have had ads printed in early 2004 or later. We would need to compare Chinese names, etc. to determine exactly when your group's finding ads were placed.
Thanks Brian. Your post provides important data about the declining numbers of children admitted to Chinese orphanages, especially those orphanages involved in China's foreign adoption program.
Orphanage data may or may not reflect overall abandonment trends, however. Additional recent studies continue to be published that also relate to abandonment by examining birth sex ratios and the variety of cultural, biological, and other factors that might contribute to the "missing girls" in China's population figures. It's difficult to learn much from these about the degree to which the wide gaps between male and female births identified through China's 2000 detailed census may be holding steady, but these types of studies still don't collectively indicate a narrowing of China's gender gap. This would at least seem to leave the door open on the related question of abandonment.
With orphanage figures, even the Chinese government has noted that its state run orphanages address only a comparatively small number of children abandoned. Indeed there is research to suggest that the government policy for directly addressing abandoned children in rural areas is really an informal one, mostly leaving the problem up to villages and families to solve. It was likely a spillover from this inadequate policy that helped to flood orphanages in cities and "county towns" with children for many years. But add to this the domestic market or demand for children spread across provinces that has been discovered by baby traffickers or "intermediaries" and one gets another significant factor that might affect the number of children who today find their way to state run orphanages, this in addition to increasing numbers of even rural families that studies have shown are now interested in domestic adoption—even if only "informal" rural adoption. On the other hand, there are clearly ways in which the gender gap could hold steady and abandonment decrease. For instance one recent study in Anhui Province attributed most of the high 1.5 to 1 male to female gap among a study group there directly to selective abortion, although it's unclear whether the method used to select families involved in that study could easily have included those who could admit to illegally abandoning children.
The abandonment picture still seems a very murky one to me, although the decline in children admitted to orphanages that you point to is encouraging. I hope abandonment is significantly declining; it sure needs to be stamped out altogether.
- notyetamama said...
Great site. If you don't mind I like to include it in my "Other Resources" section on
Do you think China will ever close their doors to IA? And if not with few children being placed for IA what will happen to the China Only agencies do?
- Research-China.Org said...
"Ever" is a long time, but my hope is that China will continue to adopt any child that they are unable to adopt domestically. For that reason, I think the China program will be around for a while, because Chinese attitudes and financial abilities make many children found in China unadoptable inside China.
Hi Brian, when speaking of Chongqing you say "The change was sporadic and inconsistent: Fuling's adoptions dropped 76% (to 135), while Xiushan increased over 600% (to 153)."
I adopted from Xiushan and I am curious as to what your feelings are about the amount of babies found in this area now and also about the very generic referrals and repeat finders.
Does the information point to trafficking?
In such a remote area where adoptive families never get to visit, is this not a red flag situation?
600% and rising based our yahoo group memberships.
Thanks for all your hard work!
- Research-China.Org said...
I was just in Xiushan late last year, and was impressed by the director and his staff. Xiushan, like Qianjiang to teh north, both have experienced rapid growth, but in and of itself that doesn't mean something is wrong. The pattern I am seeing is that areas with no orphanages experience fewer abandonments. When word gets out that an orphanage has opened, it seems that abandonments rise dramatically. That could very well be the case in Xiushan.
Thank you for the data.
You have referenced in recent blogs a drop in paper ready available children not evident in the tables above (but much of the data is two years old) - Has the last two years really seen a huge drop in children or has an increased number of prospective parents for the children increased the wait time? Or is it a combination of both? I read somewhere that in Nov 2005 the CCAA received 2,000-3,000 applications and they are just now placing children monthly for only a few days or 1 week based on LID dates.
- Research-China.Org said...
It is evident that both decreasing numbers of healthy children and increasing IA demand for those children are combining to increase the wait time.
Unfortunately, the CCAA has little latitude to increase the number of available children. Although they continue to add new orphanages to teh program, these bring relatively few additional children. The increased wait time is certainly having its impact on the demand side, as will the new requirements.
Although some agencies are speculating that the wait will reach 5 or 6 years, that seems unlikely. After peaking at around 3 years (or slightly less), wait times will slowly return to the 18-24 month range, where they could remain for a while.
Brian,would you tell us about what is the percentage of chinese children internationally adopted whose finding ad are published?.
Do you think finding ad can be an evidence of the legality of the procces of one particular adoption?.
- Research-China.Org said...
A finding ad is published for every child adopted in China, whether domestically or internationally. The publication of a finding ad gives no evidence to the legality of a child's coming into the orphanage. Thus, the orphanage published finding ads for all of the trafficked children in Hunan, for example.
I cannot imagine a 2 to 3 year wait for an adoption and cannot in good faith recommend the China program to anyone interested at this time. Even though we had as good an experience as possible, due to the unknown wait times i would havws to say don do it.
People have to keep going on with life and not put their lives on hold or their marriage and life will suffer.
At some point the CCAA and the US adoption agencies are really going to have to come clean on the supply / demand issue. How did the CCAA get so blind / backed up with our making the recent requirement changes earlier?
I read the last post and can only offer that life is what happens as you wait for your child and truly nothng should be on "hold."
In the past I'm sure I gave a long-winded answer when someone asked me/ us why we adopted from China. The answer is no very easy; how else would we have met our daughter Gianna Wan-Fen.
The wait from DTC for refferral was about 7 months the first time round and this second time I'm sure it will total to what will be two years from DTC to having our second daughter in my arms.
All told, it will feel like a moment and as I said before, life is what happens in between. I'm certain adopting from China with what seems like the same amount of babies but more people in line is worth it beyond description for all parties involved.
Thank you,
The long wait is hard on everyone but the atitdude we have will make a big difference in how we deal with it. Our LID is Feb. 15/07 so I know the wait will be long for us. If someone can't deal with the long wait than they should look at other countries for IA. I try to stay positive. Whatever happens was meant to be.
Hi Brian,
Would you mind clarifying your comments about Qidong?
You said "3 principal orphanages involved in the trafficking scandal, including Qidong"
Yet it was my understanding that the Qidong SWI was NOT implicated in the scandal.
I seemed to understand that one of the SWI was Hengyang, which is in Qidong County and that the trial took place at the Qidong County Courthouse.
Additionally, you wrote that in 2000, Qidong submitted 30 files to CCAA and in 2005 they submitted 150 files.
I ask for a number of reasons.
First, my daughter was adopted from Qidong SWI in 2000 in a group of 5 babies. Later that year another agency facilitated about the same number of babies for adoption.
So I wonder where the other 20 babies went?
Our list is a very small list and while I understand many families choose not to join their orphanage listserve, I think based on the numbers, the numbers you say were submitted seem to be high.
Again, if 150 were submitted from Qidong SWI in 2005, these babies just weren't adopted, as in the past 2 years only about 15 people have joined to say they were adopting from Qidong.
I also ask because I travelled to Qidong last year and visited the orphanage, met with the director who facilitated my daughter's adoption, another man who was the director subsequently as well as a few nannies who have been there since 2000.
It seems to me that if these people had been involved in a trafficking scandal, they wouldn't still be at the orphanage!
So, I was just wondering if you had other information directly related to Qidong SWI. The numbers just don't seem to add up.
Thanks so much!
- Research-China.Org said...
According to the investigative pieces published in China (and published on this blog in English), the following orphanages purchased children from the Duan and Chen trafficking families between 2002 and 2005:
Qidong Welfare Center
Hengyang County Welfare Center
Hengshan County Welfare Center
Hengnan County Welfare Center
Hengdong County Welfare Center
Changning Municipal Welfare Center
It is of course impossible to determine where the children adopted from Qidong, or any orphanage, end up, and few families subscribe to their orphanage newsgroup relative to the total number.
One would think that the individuals involved in the Hunan scandal would no longer be in their positions, but as far as I know not a single director has been fired or otherwise held accountable for the actions in this regard. It is my understanding that Jiang Jianhua, director of the Hengyang County orphanage, still serves as its director, although he was convicted last year in the case, and sentenced to jail time.
I am confused, Brian.
You say, "A finding ad is published for every child adopted in China, whether domestically or internationally. " If that is so, and it certainly appears to be, then how are you able to separate out with such certainty the humber of files submitted for international adoption?
In other words, your posts often confidently assert numbers of children submitted to CCAA, and you sometimes speak as though all those children go into the international queue.
From what you've now said, that BOTH int'l and domestic kiddos have finding ads, you cannot (correct spelling, by the way - a bugaboo of mine on this word!) confidently talk about numbers of children available for int'l adoption.
Or can you?
And if so, how??
- Research-China.Org said...
The finding ads for international adoptions are almost always published in different papers than the domestic ones.
In the rare cases when they are published in the same paper, the issuing authority is the orphanage for international, and the Civil Affairs Bureau for domestic.
Thus, it is fairly easy to break them apart.
Thanks - appreciate that! Is that how you determined the number of int'l and domestic adoptions for the Guangzhou SWI, by the respective paper?
- Research-China.Org said...
Yes, the domestic adoptions are placed in a local paper in Guangzhou, while the international ads are placed in a Provincial paper.
I have been adopted from from the hunan providence. I'm still looking for my birth parents. After reading this article I wondered if I was abandoned. My adoptive parents said they have no info about my birth parents. I was disappointed,because I wanted to know why I was at the orphanage. It also stresses me out that I don't know my real birthday or age. I have done many test and it said I was around the age of 12. But that didn't help me out to my age one little bit. For all I know I could be nine.


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Florida coach Will Muschamp offered a solution Monday for Alabama coach Nick Saban, who has expressed having a problem with the loser of the SEC Championship game being shut out of the BCS bowl picture.
Florida coach Will Muschamp offered a solution Monday for Alabama coach Nick Saban, who has expressed having a problem with the loser of the SEC Championship game being shut out of the BCS bowl picture and not having a chance to play in the Sugar Bowl.
"Well, I can switch and go to Atlanta if he doesn't want to go to Atlanta and play the Dawgs," Muschamp said. "Be careful what you ask for, Nick."
On Sunday's SEC Championship game teleconference, Saban said he did not feel comfortable with the scenario that shuts the loser of Saturday's game out of the Sugar Bowl, where instead the 11-1 Gators appear headed after securing an at-large bid to a BCS bowl with their victory over Florida State.
"For either one of these teams, it's not really a great scenario," Saban said. "You play your way into the championship game, which means you're the best team in your division. They're the best team in their division. They played their way into the game by a total body of work for the whole season. It doesn't seem quite right, but it is what it is.
"I don't really know what me commenting about it is going to do to change it, but I don't feel good about it for our football team or their football team."'
But it is what it is. The loser of the SEC title game usually falls out of BCS bowl contention and more often than not ends up in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando. It's the likely destination of the Alabama-Georgia loser Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Gators, who are ranked No. 4 in the BCS standings, have secured a spot in a BCS bowl, probably the Sugar in New Orleans on Jan. 2.
"(UF athletic director) Jeremy (Foley) and I talked this morning, and he just said it looked like the Sugar Bowl," Muschamp said. "Nothing for sure until Sunday night (when bowl pairings are announced), but that's what it looks like."
Muschamp and the Gators would prefer being in Atlanta this weekend playing for the SEC title, but the Gators' loss to Georgia cost them the opportunity.
With a stronger overall resume than Georgia and Alabama, one that includes victories over three BCS top-10 teams, the Gators could be raising a legitimate argument that they should not be out of the running to play in the BCS Championship game.
But Muschamp won't go there.
"We knew the rules of engagement when the season started," he said. "I'm not one that's going to sit there and complain about it. It is what it is. We had our opportunity in Jacksonville, and we didn't get it done. That's our fault. Nobody else's.
"I'm not a guy that's going to sit there and bellyache about the rules. They were set before the season started. We knew the deal. I'm not going to sit there and complain about it. We should have won the game."


text:
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Legal, Financial, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Related to European: European Union
emanating from or pertaining to Europe.
European bat lyssavirus
see lyssavirus.
European beech tree
European blastomycosis
see cryptococcosis.
European brown hare syndrome
a highly fatal necrotizing hepatitis caused by a calicivirus, occurs naturally and only in Lepus europeus (European hare) and Lepus timidus (Northern hare). Proposed as a possible progenitor virus for rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus.
European buffalo
the true buffalo of the Old World (Bubalus bubalis), not the bison. Includes many breeds and varieties. Used for milk, meat and draft. Dark gray to black in color, often with white on the head, tail and feet. Called also Indian buffalo.
European cattle breeds
include aquitaine blond, belgian blue, brown swiss, central and upper belgian, charolais, chiana, friesian, holstein-friesian, limousin, maine-anjou, marche, piedmont, pinzgau, romagna, simmental, steppe.
European chick flea
European feedlot
see European feedlot.
European harvest mite
see trombiculaautumnalis.
European mistletoe
see viscum album.
European oak
European rabbit flea
European swamp fever
European swine fever
see classical swine fever.
European yew


text:
While some Windows Phone photography apps have a sharing feature native to the application some, such as Cinemagraph (here's our review), don't. In these cases you rely on your Windows Phone Pictures Hub options to share these images.
You've just created a fantastic animated GIF through Cinemagraph and are eager to share it with friends or family. Once the image is saved to your Windows Phone, head over to your Pictures Hub and go into the Camera Roll gallery. Find the Cinemagraph image you want to share, pull it up to full view and tap the three dot menu.
From there you'll see options to share the Cinemagraph image which will pull up sharing choices such as email, SMS messaging, Twitter, Facebook, and the sort. You also have an option under the three dot menu to save the Cinemagraph to your SkyDrive account. With the size of the Cinemagraphs, this might be the best option and then send your friends the link to the SkyDrive file. Plus some email clients may have file limitations making SkyDrive the better option as well.
The same sharing options are present for all your photos that reside in your Windows Phone Pictures Hub. So, if the app you use to capture images doesn't have a sharing option just head over to your Pictures Hub to get 'er done.
To view Cinemagraphs in action via Skydrive, you need to click "View Original", otherwise your guest will just see what looks like a still image. This is far from ideal as it basically means you have to give explicit instructions when you share, but hey, it's a start. Perhaps SkyDrive will offer native animated GIF support in the future.


text:
Blossoms York
Within easy walking distance of all historic York's attractions, a warm welcome awaits at our friendly Guest House. All rooms en-suite with tea/coffee facilities, flat-screen TV with freeview & DVD. Wi-fi throughout entire building. Breakfast available. Lounge Bar with books, board games, TV & Nintendo.
* Bar
* Flatscreen freeview TV & DVD in every room
* Towels & toiletries provided
* Blossoms has a strict No Smoking policy in all rooms, however an outside smoking area is provided.
* All rooms are sold at a 'room only' rate
* Breakfast is served daily priced at £4.50 for a lighter breakfast and £7.50 for a full English
Availability & RatesTo view availability and prices please select dates and click 'Update Dates'
B&B Facilities & Policies
- Bar
- Board Games
- Breakfast Not Included
- Cots available
- Credit Cards Accepted
- Telephone/Fax Facilities
- Free City Maps
- Free Internet Access
- Free Parking
- Free WiFi
- Hair Dryers
- House Keeping
- Internet Access
- Self-Catering Facilities
- Laundry Facilities
- Luggage Storage
- Meals Available
- No Curfew
- Parking
- Tea & Coffee Making Facilities
- Towels Included
Cancellation PolicyThis property has a 14 day cancellation policy. Failure to cancel within this time will result in a cancellation charge equal to the first night of your stay.
DirectionsShow MapHide Map
By Car:
We are located on Bootham (A19), approx 0.5 miles from the city centre.
Look out for a footbridge crossing the road - we are close to this, opposite a very old school building. Our car park is at the rear of the property, and accessed from Burton Stone Lane (this road has the 'Burton Stone' pub on the corner.)
Note for people not familiar with York's roads: the city centre might look great on the map, but it contains footstreets & one-way systems. Thus, we recommend you use the Northern Ring-road (A1237) and approach along the A19 FROM THE NORTH. From this direction, we are very easy to find! Look out for a white footbridge just before the city centre - we are on the left hand side 20 yards before the footbridge.
By Train:
To walk to us from the station takes about 10-15 minutes. On exiting York Station by the main entrance (with the taxi rank,) turn left. Follow the road past the Royal York hotel, and cross straight over at the traffic lights. Go straight on, and through the gate in the bar walls (city walls.) Turn left, and cross the river. Continue straight ahead to the next set of traffic lights. Turn left and continue to the next set of traffic lights. Turn left again, into Bootham, and walk until you see a footbridge crossing the road. We are on the right hand side. Alternatively, pay about GBP 4-5 for a taxi!!
Located Near
City Centre & Shopping
York Minster
City Walls
Restaurants, pubs & bars
Train station


text:
Tickets: Buy Here
Two-time CMAA Female Artist of the Year and ARIA Award nominated artist CATHERINE BRITT announces her 'BONESHAKER TOUR' in anticipation of her forthcoming album.
Without question her unique voice instantly gets your attention. It is however the craftsmanship of this young accomplished singer/songwriter that unashamedly boasts a worthy story that truly keeps her audience enthralled.
On stage, Catherine takes her fans on a journey with her talented melodic story telling that captivates those who love to engage in her heart felt stories of love and life. Catherine is a special singer/songwriter that must be seen and heard to be believed.
In 2015, CATHERINE BRITT will embark on a tour performing her biggest hits and showcase her new material from her scheduled early 2015 album release, 'Boneshaker'.


text:
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Jackson Burnside on Day of Absence
MY TWO CENTS on A DAY OF ABSENCEBY Jackson Burnside III
"I can't see anything," he thought. "If I see nothing, that means I'm stupid! Or, worse, incompetent!" If the Prime Minister admitted that he didn't see anything, he would be discharged from his office. Hans Christian Anderson
First I must thank both Nicolette Bethel and Ward Minnis for the opportunity to participate at this level in the ongoing debate about A Day of Absence. For some time now I have been following these two scholars on their blogs, on Facebook, and in e-mail discussing a variety of issues particularly important to the culture, arts and heritage of our country. Ward has been in several places including Canada and Eleuthera, and Nicolette has been at the Ministry of Culture and the College of The Bahamas and Shakespeare in Paradise. What is fascinating today is they could be anywhere and still be here, getting in the business of "Who we are and What we are all about".Both of these Artists have managed to draw me, and many others, into their musings on the state of Art and Culture in our Bahamas, and they have managed to maintain a mature level of discussion while throwing the kind of blows intellectually that would have knocked out the toughest head-fellas back in the days of the Cinema on East Street. Now you must understand that all this is happening on the Internet which opens up The Bahamas to expose ourselves to the world, to give and to receive, consciously and subconsciously. We seem helpless to control the volume of the information we are exposed to, and we seem to accept and wait for our opinions of ourselves and our worldview to come to us from those outside to whom we have given the authority to define us.We did not always have the Internet, obviously. Less than twenty years before Independence in 1973, we thought that television was the limit of technological innovation and we accepted the intelligence came from Ed Sullivan and Walter Cronkite. Before television we were connected to the radio. Even before electricity was inside the house, we turned on battery charged radios on schedule to listen to the BBC and ZNS to hear the news and special stories.We have always been fascinated by stories. Before the modern broadcast technologies, stories were in books or were ole-stories in the minds or in the traditions of families and communities. The stories that were repeated were those stories that served a purpose to entertain and to pass down survival skills to the younger generations to adapt to these flat, barren, narrow rocks that we only saw as wasteland. These stories, written, spoken, and performed, formed an important part of our rich heritage.Before the radio, when the stories came to us on the boat, we made every new story a part of our "ole-story". We made this "conch salad" or peas soup" with everything from the Bible stories to the Royal Reader to the Oxendale and the Bellas Hess catalogues, (before the Sears and Roebuck catalogue). Families built the fire on the three rocks and roast corn, and told Bookie and Brer Rabbie stories, and speerit stories to scare the children to sleep and teach them how to survive in hazardous environments. Programs and Recitations in church halls and Lodge Halls throughout the land guaranteed that folk lore and traditions were repeated and impressed into the minds and hearts of the communities. Our people travelled and returned, and others visited and stayed, all bringing influences which we added to this mix-right-up concoction we call our Bahamaland.Reading stories from books and reciting from memory were important to who we were and what we were about. We looked forward to our teachers and story time. I can hear Naomi Blatch now reading from Hans Christian Anderson one of my favourite stories, The Emperor's New Clothes. This was the tale of the vain Emperor who loved to dress in fancy clothing, who "get swing" by two swindling tailors who were full of self praise.These scoundrels told the Emperor they were great "Artists" and claimed they invented a fabric so light and fine that it appeared invisible. In fact, they said if anyone could not appreciate its quality, this cloth would be invisible to them because they were too stupid and incompetent to see its beauty. The Emperor, his Prime Minister, and all of his Ministers were fooled by these scoundrels, and the Emperor provided a loom, silk and gold threads, and large bags of gold from the public treasury to sponsor the work of the scoundrels. In addition to getting new clothes, the Emperor and members of government would soon learn which of the people were stupid and incompetent.Well you all know how the story went. The Emperor and his men were too embarrassed to admit they did not see the cloth and the clothes. They marveled at the beauty of the cloth and the design of the costumes, and because the Emperor and his court were so obviously impressed all of the spectators in the streets praised the work of the two crooked tailors as the Emperor strutted proudly on parade.A child, however who had nothing to gain from the Ministers and the Emperor could only see things as his eyes showed them to him."The Emperor is naked", he cried. "Fool" his Mother screamed. "Don't talk nonsense!" she shouted as she grabbed his arm and led him away. But the damage had been done, and the sip-sip spread all through the crowds.This story continued to play in my mind as I read the exchange between Nicolette and Ward. Both Scholars agree that, at times, the Emperor is naked. The swindling tailors, like many who call themselves "Artists" in our country are simply foolin' most of the people most of the time, and their invisible product is expected to be appreciated by the majority of the people. These so-called "artists" are amongst us in every aspect of our lives, the Government, the Church, the Teachers, the Unions, and indeed the Arts, asking us to see what is not there.The most important role in the old fable is given to the child. The young boy is the first to see what he's lookin' at, providing that badly needed critique of the work of the Artists. Ward reminds me of that critic, who seems to say that the clothes of the Emperor were full of holes even before he met these so called artists. He says the cloth is badly woven, and the design of the garments is not elegant. Ward says, "We artists in this country have not only had days of absence but we have had years, even decades, of absence". While I cannot agree fully that Art has been so absent, I support the spirit of his statement.Ward's role as the "Critic" is a badly missing character in our national story. Without "the children" courageous enough to criticize the "elders" in strong but respectful and honest critique, we will never have the consistent production of Art at the standard of world class. We like to say "We are the Best in The World", yet we turn around and want to be like heroes from someplace else.Like us, Hans Christian Anderson took stories from other cultures and adapted them to his own. Anderson's story is an old Arab and Jewish story from North Africa that found its way to Spain, then Germany, and Anderson learned it in Denmark and used it to create his classic. So you will excuse me if I act as if this story, from someplace else, is my own. This works for me because I see the creativity of the Emperors cloth and the design of his fashions as ART, which is the expression of the people's spirit. I see the behavior of the Emperor, his Ministers and the people as CULTURE. Culture, for me is simply "What" we do, "How" we do, and "Why" we do all the things we do. Heritage, then, is the "Story" of the people and their place, expressed in tangible and intangible forms.To tell you the truth, I too was confused when Nicolette invited Artists to make themselves present in "A Day of Absence". I agree with Ward when, in praise of his former professor, he says, "I still believe that the Bahamian Community is in need of something like this though, and if we begin a dialogue on what we really lack, maybe we can eventually get at what it is we really need".Is the Emperor naked? Is Art really absent? Nicolette makes it abundantly clear that, "We Bahamians have cultivated the habit of supporting certain cultural endeavours simply because they are produced by Bahamians, regardless of quality. We have suppressed our critical faculties. We have come to expect sub-standard work from Bahamians, so much so that the very adjective "Bahamian" stands for mediocrity." While this sad case of affairs is undeniable, it is also true that there is an abundance of individuals and organizations that, in spite of the culture of the "Emperor and his court", produce diverse expressions of the highest standards.This is a blow that Nico strikes on the defensive in her "Second Response" to Ward's stinging critique. She asks two questions, how good are we? And, how do we get better? She also argues that most of us choose to present the culture of mediocrity to make the argument that we are not that good. She turns that argument on itself and begs us to focus on the positive. There is no argument from any of us that for a country of our size we have produced an enormous volume of excellent Artwork of all kinds.Ward argues, however, that when we think of "the world of Art", we are thinking mostly of artists generally from outside our borders. This is a very important issue, in his mind, because he says, " The reality is that most, if not all of the images and products that filter our way from great foreign cultural creators, such as the United States, have been produced by professionals who have already been paid. To ask the right question therefore, is to ask, what would the Bahamas be without Bahamian Art?"I agree with Ward that the metaphor of absence must be questioned. Ward says. "We do not need any more absence. We need to make our presence felt". We particularly need to make our presence felt to ourselves, so that we, Bahamians, would not automatically conclude that to get quality creative production or design, we need to look outside of ourselves.Clearly, Nicolette agrees with Ward also when she says, "The Day of Absence is not about withdrawal, about begging, about making money or getting jobs: it is about respect". Ward questions, "Are all Bahamian Artists worthy of respect?", and says, "The simple answer is no". He asks, "Are we (the artists) really trying to reach the people, or have we been aiming at something else?" I believe this searching interrogation underscores the need for more dialogue and institutions in our nation to place Art and Culture in the centre of the public discussion and the national social and economic debate.If "culture" is everything that we do, can you imagine "a day where the undesirable and underdeveloped aspects of our culture are absent? Can you imagine "a day without tiefin, a day without schemin', a day without liein', A day without killin'"? The "Emperor and his Ministers", as well as the people in the public square seem satisfied with this status quo. Less than a generation ago, we declared, in our ignorance, that we have no culture. Then, we began to say that regatta, or junkanoo, or the Dundas, or the orchestra was our "culture". We were confused then and continue to be confused now, about what culture is, what Art is, or who Artists are. We hate to admit our ignorance, or say "we do not know". But it is this very confession of ignorance that is the essence and the beginning of learning. Admitting our ignorance is at the foundation of the institutions that ask the questions that lead to new solutions and give our nation guidance to go forward.Can you imagine a Bahamian environment where quality of life is paramount? Imagine if you will that everywhere you turned in The Bahamas there was proof that Fashion, and Film, Fine Art and Craft, Monuments and Museums, Music and Dance, Literature and Theatre, Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Homecomings and Festivals, Public Transportation and Open Space were all of the highest quality. Imagine if there was evidence of Bahamian Art and Cultural excellence all around you and the quality of the design environment was given the highest priority in our nation.In her Curator's Note of Volume 6 of the NAGB Newsletter, Dr. Erica James states:
"More and more I have come to accept this recession as a rite of passage for The Bahamas, an indication that the nation's extended childhood is over. Is it possible to seek vision in difficult times? Will these trying days host the moment when we are forced to learn the presence and value of our culture, accept the complexities of our identity and take ownership of our lives, our communities, our societies, and harness the ability to write our own stories?... Can we accept the fact of our limits, yet embrace the limitlessness of our imagination and determine nevertheless to insist on the excellence we are fully capable of?"
Unless we are confident enough like Nicolette Bethel to offer new solutions, and courageous enough like Ward Minnis to question the obvious, we will continue to wallow in our ignorance believing that artistic expressions alone make up culture, crippled by our fear to speak truth to power. Art hopefully places a mirror in the face of culture, and causes us to see what we lookin' at when we look at ourselves. This is particularly critical in our economy, where our only public focus appears to be "winning on Bay Street", or on the pretty scenic post card, and the well trained smiling servant faces, and on making money. We hide the ills, the pains, and the social and intellectual poverty of our society for fear that we might offend or upset our almighty tourist trade and dollars.So, we continue to hold "the parades", in all aspects of our social and economic life, where the Emperor is naked, and we are satisfied when the children's illustrations from somewhere else show that the Emperor at least has on underwear. We look at what the Emperor is wearing on Bay Street and we marvel, because we do not want anyone to think we are incompetent or stupid and we go back over-the-hill, out East, out West, and to the Deep South, and we holler "Dey rob us!"