About
The Project
Jena Heath, professor of Journalism and Digital Media at St. Edward's University, conceived Our China Stories, and traveled extensively to gather the interviews that launched the site in 2016. It is our hope that scholars studying the immigrant experience, China, and international adoption will find these interviews to be valuable primary sources, and that adoptees and those close to them will make this a living archive by continuing to add their stories. Some participants have preferred to use pseudonyms and non-identifying photos.
Marcos Hernandez, UI/UX Designer on the digital staff at the Munday Library, St. Edward's University, built this Omeka site.
Matt Largey, an audio producer in Austin, edited. He is also the Managing Editor at KUT News, Austin's NPR affiliate. He worked in public radio in Boston and taught radio production at the Salt Institute in Maine (which he also attended as a student). Matt's work has been heard nationally on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Here & Now and numerous other programs and podcasts. Matt is originally from Maine, but has been in Austin for (almost) a decade. He lives in South Austin with his wife, daughter and their border collie.
Jun Wang translated the site's admin into Mandarin Chinese. She holds a master’s degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and has worked as a reporter and editor in Beijing, Cairo and in the United States. In 2011, she launched China Daily’s Southern California edition and was in charge of editorial content until 2014. Wang lives with her husband Yifeng Yu, a math professor at the University of California-Irvine, and their two sons.
Shanshan Zhang is a doctoral candidate in International and Intercultural Communication at Shanghai University's School of Foreign Languages. She acted as interpreter for Helena Hong's interview, conducted via FaceTime from Helena's home in Barcelona.
Stephanie Campos is a photographer based in New Braunfels, Texas. Stephanie photographed many of the adoptees and their family members, including her daughter, Harper, who shares her story here. New York-based photographer Ted Heath also contributed photos as did adoptees and others who have told their stories here. Jena Heath snapped a photo or two. Austin-based graphic designer, Elizabeth Green, graphic created the Our China Stories logo.
Storytellers were cared for in the following orphanages, Child Welfare Institutes and Social Welfare Institutes:
Anhui Province: Chaohu SWI
Chonqing Province: Fuling SWI
Guangdong Province: Dianbai, Dongguan, Foshan, Guangzhou, Maogang, Maonan, Yangdong and Yangchun SWIs
Guangxi Province: Guilin SWI
Guilin Province: Nanning SWI
Hebei Province:
Heilongjiang Province: Hegang SWI
Henan Province: Luoyang SWI
Hubei Province: QiChun SWI and Wuhan
Hunan Province: Hengdong and Shaoyang SWIs
Jiangsu Province: Changzhou CWI and Xuzhou SWI
Jiangxi Province: AnYuan (Pingxiang), Xinyu and Zhangshu SWIs
Sichuan Province: Chengdu SWI
Xinjiang Province, Altay SWI
Yunnan Province: DeHong Prefecture SWI
Adoptees were in foster care in these locations, among others:
Altay, Xinjiang Province
Yangxin in Hubei Province
Yulin, in Shaanxi Province
Zhan-jiang, in Guangdong Province