Adopting a Child from China: What to Expect When Traveling To China

This article is for those who are thinking about or planning to adopt a child from China.  It is not about the adoption process, such as how to get the home study, the various forms and paperwork, or the selection process.  Any adoption agency can fill you in on those details.  My intent with this article and following articles, is to inform adoptive parents about what they can expect while in China and the range of experiences they may encounter in the initial days of receiving their child.  

My wife and I adopted our three-year old daughter from China in November 2016.  Our trip to China and subsequent two-week stay with our child was filled with a wide range of emotional experiences (some good... some not so good).  We want to inform potential adoptive parents about the things the adoption agency did not, and possibly could not tell us about what we would encounter.

This particular article will reflect what we experienced during our trip to China, as well as the first two days in China before receiving our child.  Following articles will contain information about what we experienced when we finally met our child, what happened during the initial two-week period with our child, and the experience of bringing our child home.  We hope the details of our personal journey may help other adoptive parents gain a realistic idea of what to expect before, during and after the visit to China.

What to Expect Upon Arrival in China 

So you’ve made all the arrangements for travelling to China for the purpose of meeting your adopted child and taking him or her home. It’s likely been a long and arduous process of filing paperwork, waiting for referrals, and finally selecting your child. Now all that process work is behind you and it’s time to board your flight to China. You are about to enter a roller-coaster ride of emotions for which no one at the adoption agency could have prepared you.  

If you’re from the U.S. or some distant country, the plane trip will take many hours and may require at least one stop. Upon arrival in China, your body will think the actual time is the opposite of what your eyes tell you. Yes, you will be jetlagged! But you will hardly notice it due to the excitement and adrenaline flowing through your body in anticipation of your new adventure…meeting the child who will be yours forever.  Depending on where you arrive in China, your adoption agency will have hired a driver and/or guide to meet you at the airport and transport you to the hotel in your destination city. If you’re thinking about renting a car and travelling on your own within China, banish that thought. Many of the highway and street signs are in Chinese with little to no translation in any other language. You will be lost within the first five minutes, even if you have a road map or GPS. Not only will you be lost, you will be a danger to yourself and other drivers as you won’t even be able to figure out one-way streets versus two-way streets. Do not rent a car! 

In our case, we flew to Hong Kong and were cordially greeted by our driver “Jimmy” who was standing at the arrival terminal holding a large sign with our name printed on it. What struck us about Hong Kong airport was its huge size, modern design, and orderly flow. The immigration process at the airport was so quick and easy; we didn’t even consider it a major event. After retrieving our luggage, “Jimmy” led us to his newer model Toyota van. We don’t believe “Jimmy” was his real name because when we asked him for his name, he hesitated a moment as if trying to remember it and said “uh…Jimmy”. He wasn’t trying to deceive us. He was just trying to make us feel comfortable by giving us a familiar American name instead of a name we wouldn’t be able to spell or pronounce. If we had been from Mexico, he might have said his name was Pedro or Jorge. 

Jimmy was cordial and spoke broken but adequate English, so we were able to communicate effectively with him. He drove us north from Hong Kong to our destination city of Guangzhou, which is the capital of the Province of Guangdong in southern China.  

Hong Kong is an autonomous territory of China and maintains a separate political and economic system from China. The difference between Hong Kong and China is palpable. Our trip through Hong Kong to the Chinese border provided us with a view of a wealthy territory complete with modern skyscrapers, high quality apartment buildings, and pristine roadways and bridges. In keeping with its former status as a British colony, drivers in Hong Kong drive on the left side of the road. At the Chinese border, we were required to show various documents and answer a few questions. Then, we were on our way into China, immediately transferring to the right side of the road.  

As we entered China, we could tell it was very different from Hong Kong. There were plenty of high-rise apartment buildings, but they were of lower quality. The roadways and signs were not as well maintained as in Hong Kong and the overall street lighting seemed a bit muted. We were now in China and it felt somewhat surreal.  

The Hotel 

At the time we were setting up our hotel reservation, we were advised by our agency’s contact person in China to stay at one of three preferred hotels. The recommended hotels seemed a bit pricey, so we decided to check Hotels.com for cheaper pricing. We spent hours checking hotels, prices and distances from where we needed to be. We ended up selecting one of the hotels recommended by the agency contact person. In hindsight, we should have just selected one of the recommended hotels rather than wasting our time trying to get better pricing. The hotels recommended by the agency representative were “Americanized” and were central to the various government agencies we were required to visit. They were also located near major shopping areas and parks, which were of great benefit after receiving our child.

We stayed at a modern 14–story hotel near the central business district of Guangzhou. It had all the amenities anyone could ask for, including a huge lobby area, clean modern rooms, a few restaurants, and a large outdoor swimming pool.  But the best part of the hotel was the friendly and helpful staff. Most of the staff spoke adequate English and we were able to communicate our needs when necessary. It was obvious the hotel staff was trained to provide excellent customer service. 

Our arrival at the hotel was a relief as we were extremely tired. It was a pleasure to explore the hotel a bit, have dinner, and then lay our heads on the comfy pillows for a very restful sleep.  

The Morning After Arrival 

The itinerary planned by the agency is designed to get you to your destination city at least two days before the day you actually meet your child. The first day is when you arrive in China and get settled at your hotel. The second day is to relax and get your body clock reset so you can be fresh and rested when you meet your child. We used our second day to sleep late, have a leisurely brunch, and explore the area within walking distance of the hotel. 

While exploring the area, we were amazed at the number of American retail stores that were available to us. A McDonald’s Restaurant was adjacent to the hotel and there was a full service Starbuck’s within the hotel itself. A 7-11 convenience store was also adjacent to the hotel. We also noticed there were many specialty restaurants and stores within a short walk, as well as two large parks that we would later visit with our child. 

As we explored the area, we noticed how “westernized” the people were in their attire. We would later find out that Chinese culture is trending toward the western culture in many respects. While China is still a very socialist country, it is moving toward capitalism in a very obvious way. 

The people we encountered during our initial exploration were very docile and friendly, and whatever concern and apprehension we may have had prior to arrival quickly dissipated on the second day.  

Chinese Currency 

We came into China with U.S. dollars and were able to use a kiosk at the hotel to exchange relatively small amounts into Chinese currency. On the third day, our guide took us to a major bank for the purpose of exchanging larger amounts of U.S. dollars into Chinese currency to make sure we had enough Chinese currency for the various processing fees required during the adoption process and for living expenses.  

It’s important to understand the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and Chinese currency. Chinese money is known as Renminbi and the basic unit of Renminbi is the Yuan. At the time of our visit, the exchange rate fluctuated between 6.75 and 7.0 times the U.S. dollar. In other words, a U.S. dollar was worth 6.75 to 7.0 Yuan. An example of how this would work is for taxicab fare. We frequently took a taxi to go to major shopping malls and it usually cost about 15 Yuan for each one-way trip. In round numbers, this would equate to about $2.00 in USD. These trips were usually between 5 and 15 minutes depending on the distance and traffic flow. 

Since the Yuan buys so little, it would take a large wad of small denominations just to go to a store or restaurant, or pay for a taxi. So it was common to carry paper money with 100 Yuan printed on it. We had a little difficulty getting used to the idea that a paper currency with 100 printed on it would barely cover breakfast for three at McDonalds. We had to keep reminding ourselves that we were only spending about $12.00 in USD for breakfast, not $85.00 USD. Those 100 denomination Yuan bills were spent very quickly.  

I hope this article helped to shed some light on what you may experience during the trip to China and the initial days before meeting your child.  

The next article will reflect what we experienced on "gotcha day", the unforgettable day we met our child.

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