Shenyang
Shenyang Children's Welfare Institution
Wangniu Village, Yuhong District
Shenyang, Liaoning, PRC CHINA
110108
Half the Sky Children's Center #40 opened in November, 2008
| Baby Sisters Infant Nurture Program | |
| Little Sisters Preschool Program | |
| Big Sisters Program | |
Family Village #15 |
SHENYANG
Shenyang is an ancient city in northeastern China. The site of a 7,200-year-old Stone Age matriarchal society, Shenyang was also the birthplace of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Today Shenyang is the political, economic, and cultural center of Liaoning Province as well as its capital.
Shenyang was the capital for Manchu leader “Dragon Tiger General” Nuerhachi, the founder of the Qing Dynasty. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty in 1644, Nuerhachi moved the capital of the new Qing Dynasty to Beijing. However, Shenyang retained considerable prestige as the older capital and the first Qing Emperors visited Shenyang regularly to pay homage to their ancestors. Today the city boasts several examples of lavish Qing-era buildings and artifacts.
During the Qing emperors’ visits to Shenyang, they lived in the Imperial Palace, now the second best preserved palace in China after Beijing’s Forbidden City. The palace contains than 300 rooms formed around 20 courtyards. Nuerhachi's sword, many paintings, calligraphy, pottery, sculptures and lacquer ware are displayed at the palace.
Next to the Imperial Palace is Shengjing Ancient Cultural Street where replicas of classic Chinese buildings with red and green wooden beams and ornate eaves cast visitors back to 17th century China. The street was demolished in 1936 and rebuilt in 1994 with tourism in mind.
The tombs of two Emperors of the Qing dynasty are located in Shenyang. In a suburb east of the city is Fuling, also known as Dongling, meaning "East Tomb." It is here that Nuerhaci, and his Queen Yehenalashi are buried. One hundred eight steps lead into an orange, three-story temple, which is over 350 years old.
Zhaoling (“Luminous) Tomb in the north of the city is the tomb of the Emperor Huang Taji, who was the second emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Instead of steps, statues of elephants, lions, and horses front the site to honor Huang Taiji’s love of animals.
Surrounding Zhaoling tomb is Beiling Park, an oasis of greenery that includes a number of lakes.
West of Beiling Park in the Huanggu District is Wugou Jingguang, the Pagoda of Buddhist Ashes. The pagoda is a 13-story-high brick structure build by the Qidan (an ancient nationality in northern China) around the year 1040 that houses the cremated remains of several high ranking Buddhist monks.
Also west of Beiling Park are the Xinle Ruins where stoneware, pottery and other artifacts from a Stone Age matriarchal community have been unearthed. The oldest and most valuable artifact is a charred wooden bird holding the sun that was uncovered in 1978. The Sun Bird was a sacred symbol and protector in this prehistoric society. Today the Sun Bird has become the symbol of Shenyang, thanks to a huge sculpture mounted on a crescent-shaped base that looms over Center Square.
Shenyang Botanical Garden features more than 1,000 varieties of flowers and trees in eight gardens. The gardens look like an impressionist painting, with well-maintained plants interspersed with ponds. For train lovers, the Shenyang Steam Engine Exhibition Hall is located in the gardens. The Hall displays 20 steam engines from around the world.
Tai chi, folk dancing (38 of China’s 56 recognized ethnic groups live in Shenyang), ballroom dancing and soccer are only a few of the activities at Zhongshan Square, a great people-watching spot and a place where tourists congregate for a photo op in front of a huge statue of Mao.
Only twenty minutes northeast of the city is the Mount Qipanshan Scenic Spot where
there is boating, fishing, and swimming during the hot, humid summers and ice skating in during the cold, dry winters at Xiuhu Lake. Hikers and horseback riders love the surrounding Qipanshan, Huishan, and Shirenshan Mountains.
Forty minutes southeast of the city is Benxi Water Cave National Park. A flooded cave, which was hollowed out 5 million years ago, allows visitors to enjoy spelunking and boating at the same time. The cave is so vast that it features a wharf that docks up to 40 guide boats. The boats, each with a guide, silently drift through the illuminated cave revealing an awe-inspiring world of stalagmites, stalactites, and bizarre rock formations.
Winter Festival
Though Harbin’s ice and snow festival is older and more renowned, some aficionados say that the snow sculptures in Shenyang are unparalleled. In 2007 the festival’s biggest snow sculpture to date was the Daminggong Palace of the Tang Dynasty recreated in painstaking detail.
Food
As the story goes, in ancient China there was once a kind doctor who helped local people free of charge. One winter he saw that some local people got frostbite on their ears. So he collected some traditional Chinese medicine, including mutton, pepper and other ingredients, and boiled them in water. Then he made the boiled medicine into snacks, which took the shape of dumplings (“Jiaozi”) He distributed the snacks to the local people together with a bowl of hot soup. They ate the medicine and were cured of frostbite.
Given how cold Shenyang is in winter, it’s no wonder that dumplings feature prominently in local cuisine.
Laobian Dumpling is a restaurant chain that Bian Fu started in Shenyang as a small snack bar a mere 180 years. A skillful marketer, Fu dubbed his dumplings “No. 1 in the world.” Judging by the awards laobian dumplings have received and by the crowded Shenyang laobian restaurant near the Imperial Palace that offers over 100 varieties of meat and vegetable dumplings, he was right.
Founded in 1796 by the Ma family, the Majia Shaomai Restaurant began in a wheelbarrow that roved the busy streets of Shenyang. It is the oldest and most famous Muslim restaurant (the Mas are members of the Hui ethnic minority) in Shenyang. Each Shaomai (a steamed dumpling with the dough gathered at the top) is shaped like a peony. The dough is prepared with boiling water, includes rice as well as wheat flour, and is filled with beef flavored with spices.
Another famous local dish if Haicheng stuffed pie, which dates back to the late Qing Dynasty. On the outside, the round pie crust is crispy. Inside, lean pork and beef and seasonable vegetables are flavored with dried lily buds and a number of other herbs. Locals eat the pie with garlic, hot pepper oil or mustard.
If you adopted a child who was in a Shenyang Half the Sky program, we are happy to send you whatever progress reports and photographs we may have in our files, but only after you've brought your child home. Please download and fill out a progress report request form and follow the instructions for faxing or emailing to Half the Sky