Yellow Crane Tower and Finding Spot

Today we had a free day. Hope's passport won't be ready until Friday, so we have a couple of days to spend in Wuhan without much of a schedule. Our guide took us to the biggest tourist spot in Wuhan. It is called the Yellow Crane Tower. It was originally built in the year 223 as a look out tower to protect the local people in times of war. It is built along the Yangtze River. The tower has been destroyed and re-built many times. The current structure was built in the 1880's. We climbed to the top of the tower in some of the hottest weather I have ever experienced. We were able to get some nice views of the city and we were even able to see the orphanage where Hope was originally brought. Our guide told us that Hope's orphanage is the nicest one in the province and that most of the children are special needs children. It is much less common to abandon a child simply because she's a girl, but if a child is born with a medical condition, it is considered a great burden and it is very difficult for families to take care of the children. The orphanages are filled with these children. Of course, we feel blessed that Hope only spent 3 days in the orphanage and spent the rest of her time in foster care where she was apparently taken very good care of.

After we finished touring the Yellow Crane Tower, we went to Hope's finding spot. She was found on the 5th floor of a local hospital. We were able to go inside and take some pictures. A nurse stopped and talked to us for a bit. She said that most babies who are abandoned at the hospital are left on the first floor and it is highly unusual for a baby to be left on the fifth floor, which also happens to be the top floor of the hospital. I imagine that Hope's birth mom was trying to buy herself time. The higher she went in the hospital, the longer she could hold her baby before she had to say goodbye. I can only imagine that it was one of the hardest days of her life. Adoption always comes at a cost. Someone has to experience great loss in order for someone else to experience gain. It is very bittersweet.