Bath Time

We found a new product that our kids love—Huggies Toddler Wash Mitts. They are made of a soft material and contain a mild soap. They make it really easy for the girls to wash themselves in the bath, and the mitts also makes bath time fun for them. (They use them for puppet shows.) The mitts are disposable, and so work great for taking on vacations.

If you are unable to find them locally, they are available at Amazon.com.

Local Story

General Foods Beverages Announces Winner of 2004 GirlFriends Invitation Essay Contest: General Foods International, the premium specialty hot beverage brand, is happy to announce Charlotte Griffin from Mobile, Alabama as the winner of the brand's first GirlFriends Invitation essay contest. General Foods International launched the GirlFriends Invitation essay contest in celebration of women's friendships and how important they are for women of every age. . . . They became fast friends during a life -- changing experience in 1994 -- they all traveled together to a southern China adoption agency to adopt babies.

[Update: Fixed the link. (Thanks Jen!)]

News

Gold bars marking Beijing Olympic Games on sale: A shop assistant displays a gold bar of colored series of Olympic Games in a department store in Beijing, capital of China, March 29, 2005. The first part of the set of colored gold bars commemorating the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games were issued in Beijing on Tuesday.

Fertility industry takes off in China; doctors concerned about abuses: It is considered a slow day at the Peking University Third Hospital in China's capital, but the fertility clinic's waiting room and hallways are overflowing with women seeking help.

News

In pictures—Taiwan protest: Hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese took to the streets to protest against China's new anti-secession law.

Investment to Protect Silk Road Relics: China will invest 420 million yuan (about US$50 million) in the next five years in protecting key cultural relics along the world famous Silk Road in the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Antelope Tipped as Olympic Mascot: Tibetan antelope has entered the highly competitive race to be selected as the animal emblem of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

China Related TV

China Sprout posts a much-appreciated weekly guide for China Related TV listings.

Happy Easter!

News

Woman with 4.2-meter-long hair: Dai Yueqin shows her 4.2-meter-long hair in Tongxiang, east China's Zhejiang Province March 24, 2005. Dai has kept her hair uncut for 26 years since she was 14 years old.

New Rules to Safeguard Charms of Old Beijing: The Beijing Regulation for Historical and Cultural City Protection, which will take effect from May 1, stipulates that the city will protect not only its more than 3,500 listed heritage sites, but also unlisted sites deemed to be of historical or cultural value.

Bamboo slips shed light on rise of Great Wall: Archeologists in central-south Hunan province have sorted out altogether 36,000 bamboo slips, about 35,000 of which bear official authentic records from 2,200 years ago at a coincidence with the rise of China's imposing Great Wall, which was first built on and off from the third century B.C.

News

Gale, sandstorm assail northern China: Pictures

"Three-good" student system under revision: The "three-good" student honour system is being revamped after 50 years extolling the virtues of good morals, hard study and sporting excellence.

Melting snow wrecks 10,000 houses in northwest China: Nearly 10,000 houses have been destroyed and more than 25,000 damaged by flooding and landslides caused by melting snow in China's northwest Xinjiang region.

'China still highly repressive': More than 500 Chinese human rights activists have sent an open letter to the European Union urging it not to lift its arms embargo on China.

Local Story

Kinkaid student finds a new sibling in Chinese Sister: Every page of Just Add One Chinese Sister (Boyd Mills Press, $16.95) has a dozen memories for Conor McCarthy. The picture book he wrote with his mother, Patricia McMahon, recounts the family's adoption of Claire. Conor, 17, celebrated his 12th birthday in China during the family's 16-day odyssey to make Guan Yu, who was living in a home for children, part of their world. Conor chose the name Claire for his new sister, who turns 8 on Wednesday.

News

Vendors, Buyers Still Reserved on New Silk Alley: Beijing's old Silk Alley was one of the most popular destinations for visitors, famous for its silk products and fashionable fake designer clothes at cut-rate prices. The crowded, open-air market closed amid controversy in January this year, but was resurrected on Saturday in a brand-new building.

Rice Urges China to Embrace Religious Freedom: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged China Monday to embrace religious freedom and think about political reforms to match its economic opening. [NYT: free reg. req.]

In Life on the Mekong, China's Dams Dominate: China's ravenous appetite for hydroelectric power at home and its thrust southward into Southeast Asia in search of trade is changing the very character of the Mekong. [NYT: free reg. req.]

China has higher female employment rate: A study conducted by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor shows that the rate of Chinese female private business owners is higher than the world average, with more than 11 out of 100 females aged from 18 to 64 running a business.

China Related TV

China Sprout posts a much-appreciated weekly guide for China Related TV listings.

Amazon Guide

waitingformymaimai on Amazon.com has posted a guide, "So you'd like to... adopt from China." Give it a look!

Beautiful China

Local Story

Chinese adoption story is an odyssey of love: As Julie and Craig Gaines strolled the streets of Nanchang, China, unexpected and remarkable episodes began to develop and kept recurring. People would walk up to them and lay a gentle hand on their just-adopted daughter, Emma Li, and, with a universal smile, utter in English, "Lucky baby."

The "One Child" Grows Up

When 'Little Emperors' Become Parents...: [In] 2004, there were 80 million families with only one child across China, according to Beijing-based Research Centre for Population Information. More than 6 million only-children from these families have entered the typical marriage and childbearing age range of between 26 and 35.

New Children's Book

Just Add One Chinese Sister is a new children's book for ages 4-8.

This lively picture book, based on a true story, is about an American family's adoption of a little Chinese girl. The story is told partly from the perspective of the girl's older American brother, Conor. As the book begins, Mommy and toddler Claire are having fun making a scrapbook about Claire, with photos, papers, and bits and pieces that show how the family went to China to get to know a little girl named Guan Yu and how they brought her home with them and, at Conor's suggestion, added Claire to her name (Claire Guan Yu). Enlivening the family's stories are Conor's journal entries, beginning with his anxiety and jealousy, and then gradually revealing the siblings' bond. The story is in the details, which are honest about Claire's initial fear and, later, her mischief and the joyful family love. Expressive watercolor artwork, in bright hues, depicts the warm and intense feelings. Adoptive families will welcome this.

Taiwan

One blogger evidently thinks the US has been a bit soft on China's law giving its military a legal basis to attack Taiwan if the island moved toward independence.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gave China a stern warning today regarding their military buildup and publicly expressed plans to conquer Taiwan: "If you attack and conquer Taiwan using excessive force, we just might get annoyed. Maybe even irritable. For a while, anyway."

See a news article about Rice's statement here.

Taking a break

I will be unable to post to China Adoption News for the next few days. I expect to start up again Thursday, March 17.

Local Story

Another Adoption For Wordhouse Family: After the four year legal battle it took to finally adopt their son Jacob, a Grand Rapids couple says adopting a little girl from China was comparatively easy.

Silk Road

Chinese vendors lose a market they built: On a chilly morning last December, Zhu Dingya huddled with other merchants outside the Silk Alley market, one of the city's most prominent attractions, and inspected a notice tacked to the entrance. His fears were confirmed: The local government was tearing the place down.

Divorce in China

China's divorce rate 21.2% up in 2004: China saw 1.613 million couples divorced in 2004 while 8.341 million couples registered to marry that year, according to statistics of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

China tries to stem soaring divorce rate: Chinese authorities are sending "think again" letters to couples applying for divorce after the number of people ending their marriages surged by 21% last year.

Women and Children

Legal Protection for Women, Kids to Improve: Improvements to the Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women (commonly known as the Women's Law) and the Law on the Protection of Minors have been included in the legislative plan of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.

Criminal Penalties Mulled for Gender-based Abortions: Members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) called on Saturday for a new criminal law prohibiting gender-based abortion and fetal gender identification for non-medical purposes.

Rewards Give Impetus to One-child Policy: Zhang Jianli and Wang Shulian, an old couple in a village of Chengde in north China's Hebei Province, recently received 1,200 yuan (US$144) in rewards from the local government for sticking to the government's one-child policy.

Gender equality hits mainstream: China has made formidable efforts to move women into the mainstream of society, relieve poverty among them, and protect their human rights and increase educational opportunities for girls, experts say.

China Related TV

China Sprout posts a much-appreciated weekly guide for China Related TV listings.

News

More Cliff Paintings Found in NW China: Seventy-two cliff paintings were recently discovered at Helan Mountain in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region during a general survey on cliff paintings in the region.

Chinese Adviser Urges Lip Synching Ban: Chinese government advisers meeting in Beijing this week have some weighty matters to discuss: blocking Taiwan's formal independence, alleviating dire poverty in the countryside. And lip synching.

Guangzhou: With Chinese from all over the country flocking to this city to fuel its booming economy, Guangzhou is pushing to reclaim its roots as the major trade and manufacturing center of China.

Beautiful China

Local Story

Families, children adopting culture: When Kathleen Santora adopted a baby from a Shanghai orphanage, she worried about maintaining her daughter's cultural identity. She bought books and toys reflecting Emily's Chinese heritage and enrolled her in schools with diverse student bodies.

News

Archeologists Find Clues to 3,000-year-old Culture: After half a year of reassembling more than 760 bone and tortoiseshell fragments, archeologists have pieced together 495 ancient Chinese characters. The 3,000-year-old engraved shells were found in the Zhougong Temple ruins in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Chinese used rice pudding as cement: Children forced over the years to eat rice pudding will not be surprised to learn that it was used in part to hold together China's historic fortifications.

China defends human rights record: China has condemned a US report alleging serious human rights violations, saying it could damage relations between the two countries.

Local Stories

Jewish parents of Chinese adoptees form group: Ruth Gray Malz always knew she would adopt a little girl one day. "My mother says that even when I was eight years old, I talked about it," she said.

Chapman is tuned in to the matters of the heart: It isn't often that a father can find something good to say about his 2-year-old daughter falling off a chair, landing wrong and ending up in a cast from ankle to hip for five weeks. But Steven Curtis Chapman isn't an ordinary father.

Local Stories

Lucky family: As Julie and Craig Gaines strolled the streets of Nanchang, China, smiling strangers would walk up to them and lay a gentle hand on the head of their just-adopted daughter, Emma Li, and utter in English, "Lucky baby."

McAfees will adopt child from China: Five years ago, adopting a child was perhaps the farthest thing from Eric and Katrina McAfee's minds.