Dear 2015 Heritage Trip Families,
Returning to the birthplace of our children, China, is a wonderful opportunity!
In many cases, this is the first time we have been back, as a family, to
experience the culture, arts, traditions, and daily life of people so similar to our
children. Together as a family, we can honor the Asian heritage of our adopted
children in the land in which they were born. China, who allowed us to adopt
our beautiful children in the first place, has become instrumental in making this
trip possible. What more could we ask for?
As a parent of three children adopted from China and two children by birth, I
was so excited for the chance to be a part of this adventure. My three daughters
were very excited at the possibilities. They talked about it for months – seeing
the Great Wall, eating authentic foods, holding baby pandas, and going on a
river cruise! What they didn’t talk much about was their feelings about coming
back to a place that may have held some more difficult memories, conscious or
unconscious. While I tried to open up discussions about visiting birth places,
abandonment sites, orphanages, and foster parents, they seemed to avoid
expressing themselves or say things that led me to believe that they did not quite
have a full understanding about this part of the trip.
I wanted to figure out some way to help my daughters talk about not only the
fun, cultural part of the trip, but also their feelings and thoughts about the harder
things. For this reason, I created this little book. It was my attempt to open up
communication with my daughters. While they had a fun guide to record their
thoughts and feelings about China as a beautiful country, they could also
integrate their feelings about visiting their birth place.
We are sharing a copy of the book to you as our gift, from a fellow CCAI
adoptive family. We hope you enjoy it, and your family can use it as a tool for
some great, heartfelt discussions.
P.S. The 2011 Heritage Trip far exceeded our expectations! I know it will
surpass yours, as well.
Nancy Fontaine, Ph.D. and
Jenna Cavano (age 10) from Pingnan, Guangxi;
Wren Cavano (age 9) from Chengdu, Sichuan;
and Carolina Cavano (age 8) from Liuzhou, Guangxi
My China Heritage
Adventure
2015
A picture of me in China.
My Name:
My Chinese Name:
A journey of a thousand miles begins
with a single step.
Confucius
27
2
Returning Home
Leaving Home
When I get back home, I am going to tell my friends that
I left the United States on ________________, 2015.
being in China was ______________________________.
Some things I really missed about my home are
______________________________________________
I traveled with my family members who included
_________________________________________
______________________________________________
_________________________________________.
If I ever return to China, I would like to
I arrived in China on ___________________.
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
The names and addresses of the special friends I made:
The plane ride was ___________________________.
I felt __________________________about the trip.
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
I think the things I will see in China are
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
.
I am most excited about _____________________
________________________________________________.
_____________________________________________
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3
2014
T H E Y EA R O F T H E H O R S E
Pictures of and Thoughts about
My China Heritage Adventure
I was born in _________, the Year of the
____________________.
Draw a picture of the animal in the
4
25
Pictures of and Thoughts about
My China Heritage Adventure
My First Day in China
______________________________ 2015.
The name of our group is _________________________.
Our leader’s name is ________________________.
I became friends with _____________________________.
We went to see ___________________________________
________________________________________________
I thought the sites were ____________________________
________________________________________________.
That night we ____________________________________.
After seeing the sites, I felt _________________________
________________________________________________.
24
5
China
Interesting Things I Saw and Did
What I liked most ______________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
What I didn’t like very much______________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
22
17
What I Learned and Liked About Guilin
and Yangshuo
Guilin is a beautiful city in Guangxi Province. The town
center is surrounded by two rivers and four lakes and
studded with sheer sided karst mountains. A picture of
one river, the Li River, is printed on the back of Chinese
20-yuan bill. A riverboat cruises down to Yangshuo,
small county downstream from Guilin.
China
I Discovered These Things About
My Chinese Heritage
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
A karst mountain is made up of ___________________.
___________________________________
A site I saw in Guilin is __________________________.
___________________________________
A site I saw along the Li River is ___________________.
___________________________________
A site I saw in Yangshuo is _______________________.
___________________________________
The best part of Guilin, the Li River, and Yangshuo is
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________.
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
karst— limestone landscape, characterized by caves, fissures, and
underground streams.
16
___________________________________
23
Pandas
The pandas were ________________________
_______________________________.
Pandas eat _____________________________.
Some pandas are not black and white, they are
___________________.
Baby pandas are ________________________.
A picture of a panda I saw
13
14
What I Learned and Liked
about Chengdu
Some things I learned about Chengdu are _________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________.
“tea”
China is known for its tea. Southwest China is where tea was
first found. At first, tea was used as medicine. During the
Chun Qiu Period (770 BC - 476 BC), Chinese people chewed tea
leaves and enjoyed the taste of tea juice itself.
There are 8 main kinds of Chinese tea: green, oolong, black,
red, white, yellow, flower, and compressed. Some teas have
unique names like Dragon Well, Spring Snail, Iron Goddess,
Fur Peak, Silver Needle, Monkey King, Cloud and Fog, and
Sweet Dew Sichuan Gan Lu .
What kind of tea do you like? _____________________
15
12
Here is some Chinese brush
writing that I learned to do.
8
11
What I Learned and Liked about Xi'an
Here is a paper cutting or
picture that I made.
The Wild Goose Pagoda has _____________ levels.
The Tang Dynasty Show was a great event. I ate about
________ dumplings! My favorite ones were _________
______________________________________________.
The Terra Cotta Warriors were _____________________
______________________________________________..
They were ordered to be built by ___________________.
What I liked in Xi'an _______________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________.
_______________________________________________.
What I didn’t like very much in Xi’An _________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
.
10
9
My Visit to Where I Lived
When My Family Adopted Me
家庭内
Family
My family and I went to ________________, where I
lived and to _________________, where I was found.
We traveled there by __________________.
I thought it was going to be _______________________
______________________________________________.
My favorite things I saw and did in Beijing were _____________
___________________________________________________
I felt _________________________________________
___________________________________________________
______________________________________________.
I saw and met _________________________________
___________________________________________________.
______________________________________________.
My least favorite things I saw and did were________________
The best thing about the visit was __________________
___________________________________________________
______________________________________________.
___________________________________________________
I didn’t like ____________________________________
______________________________________________.
20
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________.
7
What I Learned and Liked
about Beijing
北京
My Visit to Where I Lived
When My Family Adopted Me
Beijing has __________________people.
When I climbed the Great Wall I __________________.
_____________________________________________
At the Summer Palace I saw _____________________.
At the Forbidden City I saw _____________________.
In 2008, the _________________ were held in Beijing.
This site is built in the shape of a _______________.
My favorite part of the acrobat show was _________
___________________________________________.
__________________ is buried in Tiananman Square.
Here is a picture of me in the city I was found.
6
21
Facts About China
China Favorites
My favorite Chinese foods I had were_________________
_______________________________________________.
My favorite places to visit were______________________

China is the third largest country in the world.

Beijing is the capital of China.

China has 23 provinces (like our states), 5 municipalities,
and 5 autonomous regions.

China is home to 56 different nationalities.

Most people are of the Han culture..

Mandarin Chinese is the main language spoken, but all of
the nationalities has their own language.

Another language spoken in such provinces as Guangxi is
Cantonese Chinese..

There are over 1,500 rivers in China.

The Chinese alphabet has 60,000 characters. English has
26.

China is home to the ‘ginkgo,’ which is most likely the oldest
species of tree in the world.

China has 1.3 billion people..
_______________________________________________.
My favorite people I met were ______________________
_______________________________________________.
My favorite day was when I ________________________
_______________________________________________.
My favorite funny moment was _____________________
_______________________________________________.
My favorite city was ______________________________.
My favorite Chinese word was ______________________.