Another Amazing Visit

The second amazing visit on Tuesday was the visit to Silas' "finding place."  We were very excited about the possibility of seeing the place where Silas was found, but weren't sure our guide would be able to take us there, or if the place had been described sufficiently by the officials to find it.  As it happened, our guide did locate and was able to take us to the finding place, which was about an hour outside the city of Nanjing.

We drove to an area outside the city where factories dotted the landscape.  Our guide told us that the people of the Xixi District were most likely to be factory workers, which gives us some insight on the possible background of Silas' biological parents.  We drove into Xixi District, and luckily, got lost.  I say "luckily" because in getting lost, we were able to see much more of the district than we would have.  It's hard to find words to describe what we saw.  The living conditions in general were deplorable--shockingly so.  Even the most blighted areas of the US don't compare to the level of poverty that these folks endure.  There is no grass, only dirt yards, which were delineated by high concrete walls piled 6, 7, 8 feet high with bags of trash.  Many houses were crude concrete structures, kind of like row houses, that did not even have glass in the windows.  While we are sad that Silas' parents felt the need to abandon him, I shudder to think what his future would have held in Xixi District.

After asking three locals for directions, we finally found the spot which was actually located in a commercial district in the "nicer" part of town.  Here it is:

These are shots up and down the street:

And the street sign:

The surrounding environs in the shadow of the factories: