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China’s abandoned children: Shanghai orphanage shows how far care has come, but adoption still a dream for many

A 1995 British documentary brought the plight of Chinese orphans to the world’s attention

Post Magazine visits the Shanghai Children’s Welfare Institute to see how the level of care and the youngsters’ needs have changed

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Children with disabilities at the Shanghai Children's Home orphanageWelfare Institute, in China. Photo: Zigor Aldama

Published: 5:00am, 17 May 2019Updated: 5:46am, 17 May 2019

The Shanghai Children’s Welfare Institute, the only orphanage in this city of 24 million inhabitants, is a fortress. Covering 63,000 square metres, the institution is one of China’s largest, but only a single gate breaks the high perimeter wall, which is crowned with video cameras.

Guards turn away those curious about the beautiful gardens full of playing children that can be glimpsed through the gate. Few visitors are allowed inside, and those who enter do so only on strictly supervised tours.

In 1995, the world was shocked by a documentary aired on British television that exposed the dire conditions endured by children, mostly girls, who had been abandoned to avoid the harsh penalties imposed under the one-child policy. Although there were doubts about the veracity of some of the claims made in The Dying Rooms, the film cast Chinese care homes in a very poor light.

China is a different country today, however, and in an effort to demonstrate how well its abandoned young are now cared for, the Shanghai orphanage’s director, Cai Xuanxuan, has agreed to lead Post Magazine on an exclusive tour of the facilities under her management.