Child Sponsorship Background from Urumqi, China

SOS Children's Village Urumqi

The city of Urumqi is the capital of the Xianjiang Uigur Autonomous Region in Northwest China.

The Uigurs, an ancient Turkic people, are the largest population group of this region.

Xianjiang is situated in the very heart of Asia: Urumqi is the world's farthest city from the sea (about 3,600 km). The flight from Beijing to Urumqi takes more than four hours.

SOS Children's Village Urumqi is located in the western part of the city, about 40 km from the airport.

It consists of fourteen family homes, the village director's house, a house for the SOS aunts (family helpers who support the SOS mothers) and an administration and service area.

There is also an SOS Nursery , which has four group rooms and some additional rooms. The SOS Nursery has a capacity of about 120 children and is attended by many children from the local community.

About 5 km from the SOS Children's Village, there is a large market and a big hospital. A school, which is part of Xinjiang Agriculture University, is close by as well.

Background to Urumqi

Urumqi has a population of over 2.5 million and is the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, in the northwest of the country.

The city was the site of major rioting in July 2009 due to conflicts between Han and Uyghur ethnic groups in which nearly 200 people were left dead; most of the victims were Han-Chinese.