There are many people who have learned about Waldorf education from the internet are inspired by our work. Some of them have been to the Chengdu Waldorf School for workshops or have invited our teachers to give talks and workshops in their home cities.

 

Beijing:  The capital city in the north of China. There was a s kindergarten class run under the Waldorf philosophy. It was organized by Wu Bei, a former college teacher who was trained in England. The kindergarten was founded by a group of Chinese Christians. It was a conventional kindergarten but with a Waldorf inspired class. It ran for only eight months. They have stopped this class now. They thought that the Waldorf education was against their religion. Now, Wu Bei and the kindergarten teacher have left the kindergarten and are looking for a new partnership to start a new kindergarten class in a private home. There are two other groups of parents also have set waldorf kindergartens in private homes. But, there are not much information we have.

 

Tianjin:  There is a kindergarten there which started calling itself a Waldorf kindergarten after a Waldorf kindergarten teacher visited them for a few weeks. The kindergarten is owned by a business farmer who is doing organic farming. He is interested in converting biodynamic farming. He also invited Jayake, the Indian farmer who was our teacher, to the farm to work with him. They remain connection with teachers from Sweden, No further information we can give about this kindergarten.

Shanghai:  A well known and modern city on the east coast of China. A group of parents rented a flat and started a little kindergarten a year ago. They are doing very well and there are children on a waiting list.  All their teachers attended the Chengdu kindergarten training program and some even went abroad. Unfortunately, they have received a lot of complaints from the neighborhood. The government has accused them of illegal schooling. They need to find a new place to move to or battle the government. This group has a long way to go but they are working very hard on it.

 

Guangzhou:  The biggest city on south coast. One year ago, a dynamic mother set up a small home kindergarten in a rental house after attending the Chengdu Waldorf kindergarten teacher training course.  Now the kindergarten has grown out of the space. They have just moved to a larger place. They might already have more than one class. There is a very good energy among the community there. The Chengdu Waldorf School supports this group very much. All of their teachers have attended the Chengdu teacher training program. They need a lot of support for none of them have an Anthroposophical or a Waldorf background. Tammy Hughes will come to Guangzhou in October. I don’t know how much she can offer her help there.

 

Xian:  Xian is the ancient capital city in the west, where the Terra Cotta Soldiers are.There is an interested group of mothers in Xian. One of the mothers has also set up a home kindergarten in a rental flat. This group also comes to Chengdu to take the training course while they are practicing.  But they need very basic knowledge of Waldorf work. Li Zhang will visit their kindergarten in October.  We know that some people are eager to have a Waldorf kindergarten and sometimes one springs up without much preparation.

 

Zhuhai:  A beautiful city on the south coast next to Macau. There was a daycare center with a Waldorf kindergarten class two years ago. And there is some disagreement among the share participants. They closed down the day care center a few months ago. But there is new person doing a Montessori kindergarten who turned to Waldorf once she learned about Waldorf education. She even had her husband quit his job and help her. They and their teachers have come to Chengdu to take the training course. The women who had the daycare before has also set up a home kindergarten in a new place. There are two little kindergartens there at the moment. But both of them are very new. It is too early to say anything.

 

Chongzhou:   A middle size city near Mao’s hometown. There was a very ambitious woman who has attended our training a few times. She has just rented a nice villa to start a home kindergarten. She started with 5 children one month ago. I will need more information from her.

Maoming:   A middle size city  in south Guangdong province. A modern city was built upon the petroleum industry during 1950s. There is a family who has a regular kindergarten in a big house are transforming them into Waldorf kindergarten. Li and Tammy have made a couple of trips to help them. The owner of the kindergarten has been in the training course.  The kindergarten looks much better then before. But they have a long way to go. The locals are very narrow mind white color workers. They have three kindergarten groups. One of the groups is still Montessori kindergarten. It is very interest that they cam manage to do that.