Linzhi's
Vital Statistics:
Date of Birth:
September 24, 2001
Name given at the
orphanage: Yue, Zi-Xiu
Yue is the last name, Zi means "purple flower",
Xiu means pretty (Chinese equivalent of Heather or Violet?)
Linzhi's Medical
Exam was performed on February 28, 2002
Doctor's Assessment: Normal and Healthy
Weight: 5.5 kg = 12 lbs
Height: 59.5 cm = 23.43"
Why
So Many Clothes?
In Linzhi's
pictures, you can see that she has on 7-8 layers of clothing. Why is that?
From a Chinese perspective, this is actually very reassuring. It means
that Linzhi is in the hands of very caring people.
From
an article written by Joshua Zhong, Co-Founder and President of Chinese
Children Charities (of which my adoption agency, CCAI, is a part)
The Chinese believe that a new born baby is vulnerable and weak. A
child's skin is the most tender and it gives in to sunshine or cold weather
easily. Therefore, even in hot summer days, they will have their babies
covered from head to toe to prevent the babies from getting a cold, skin
infection or germs of other types. The elderly Chinese see those young
parents on the streets with inappropriate or inadequately covered children
as irresponsible, and therefore must be corrected immediately for the
sake of the children's health.
American adoptive
parents are sometimes admonished on the streets of China by well-meaning
older women, whose advice is usually given in Chinese. Parents warn future
travelers of these sweet women with the tongue-in-cheek designation of
"the baby police". When going out, the advice is to carry a
thin blanket with you to cover the baby and thus remain unnoticed.
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