Chapter One The Forbidden City The Forbidden City Jaden said Grace crossed the hotel room to see what her brother was holding What are you talking about It’s one of the places on this card You mark where you want to go and show it to the taxi driver if he doesn’t speak English The Forbidden City Doesn’t it sound cool Jaden grinned Right I saw something about that Grace picked up the China guidebook from the desk and flipped a few pages It’s number one on the top experiences list for China It says it’s a big palace Lots of history Mom would like that Their mother was a history professor at a university in Seattle But she wasn’t with them on this trip She and Dad would be returning in a month to pick up their new adopted sister On this visit it was only Dad Grace and Jaden It says the palace has legend and intrigue too Grace added Intrigue is like mystery right Jaden asked leaning over her shoulder And it says it’s easy to get lost Getting lost was Jaden’s favorite pastime
No getting lost in China please Their dad called out from another room in the hotel suite He came into their room Seriously kids We’ll have plenty of excitement while hiking the Great Wall But first are you ready to go to the orphanage I still say if we have to get another kid we should get a Dad ruffled his hair Maybe next time if there is a next boy Jaden grumbled time One brother is enough Grace said In fact it’s one too many Jaden stuck out his tongue at her Remember we’re just going to an orphanage here in Beijing to drop off some presents Dad said We won’t be meeting your new sister yet I don’t understand why we can’t Grace said I don’t really either Dad said But adopting a child takes a long time and there are many rules to follow He kissed the top of Grace’s head This visit is so you can see where you came from and Jaden can see where his sisters are from And so you can write your article Grace said Dad grinned I always enjoy mixing business and pleasure he said Dad wrote about travel and food for magazines He often turned their vacations into research trips for his articles Grace looked out the window while Jaden tried to find his shoes The city seemed endless packed full of buildings and cars and bicycles and people It was spread out on a flat plain with mountains in the distance The day before they had spent 11 hours on an airplane flying from Seattle in America to Beijing China For the first time since she was a baby Grace was back in the country where she was born Her American parents adopted her when she was eight months old They were white Her eight
year-old brother was also adopted but from within the US Jaden had dark curly hair and light brown skin In her family only Grace was Chinese She had Asian friends in school a few born in other countries and most born in America But now she was someplace where almost everyone looked like her It would be fun to be in the majority for once She was too tired the night before to take in much of what she saw Today they would stop by an orphanage to drop off some gifts from the US Then Dad Jaden and Grace would spend three days hiking along the Great Wall of China After that they would spend time in Beijing Grace didn’t remember any of her life in China Would she feel at home now They went down the elevator to the hotel lobby The hotel was a tall building with lots of shiny mirrored glass It did not look Chinese except for the signs in both Chinese and English The nearby buildings also looked like those in any other city Was China just like every other place They got into a taxi The streets were packed with people walking or driving or on their bicycles The whole city was practically one big traffic jam Nearly all of the people they passed were Chinese Grace studied them curiously What if her birth parents were there Grace was left at an orphanage when she was only a few days old She could not remember any of her life before coming to America She would see her birth country but her parents warned her that she wouldn’t learn anything about her Chinese family
