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
Still she liked the idea that she might pass by them somewhere She imagined seeing her mother or father and just knowing who they were They got out at the orphanage Her father put his arm around Grace and kissed the top of her head Well she knew who her real parents were They took care of her every day But she was curious about her birth parents too Who were they Did they look like her Why had they given her up for adoption A friendly Chinese woman led them into a sitting room Welcome Thank you for your visit She waved them to seats I apologize but I cannot show you the rest of the orphanage It is against the rules We understand Dad said We wanted to leave this box of gifts donated by some of our friends in the United States While Dad and the woman talked Jaden whispered Maybe we can leave you here and no one will notice Grace stuck her tongue out at him How are things here Dad asked Ms Chun said We have some lovely volunteers from America working here for the summer We need a lot of help Ten years ago most of our children were healthy baby girls She smiled at Grace China is very crowded with over a billion people so the government only allows most families to have one child Boys were most valued Boys are better Jaden said He grinned at Grace and she made a face Jaden don’t tease your sister Dad said You know that boys and girls are both equally the best Ms Chun went on The tradition was that women go live with their husband’s
family when they marry People with no sons had no one to take care of the parents in their old age People who had a girl first sometimes gave her up so they could try again for a son Grace leaned close to her father and whispered I’ll take care Thanks but we don’t have to worry about that for a long of you Daddy time he whispered back In the past few years things have changed Ms Chun said People see the value of girls and keep their girl babies Also rich Chinese couples will adopt the healthy baby girls This way they can have more than one child legally This is good but it means now most of the children here have serious health problems Poor families cannot afford to take care of these children so they give them up It would be better if the government helped the poor people take care of their children at home So far that is not the case Dad pulled a photo out of his pocket and passed it to Ms Chun I know the little girl we are adopting Joy is going to need at least one surgery maybe more
