So, you're going to China, and you want to learn something about the place while you're there - you want to get a sense of this country that's become part of your family's story.

There are hundreds of large, impressive historical sites. They're in all the books. But you... what you really need is something genuine and different. Something memorable.

One of the things with this international adoption lark - the actual process, rather than the raising-of-beloved-monsters comes afterward - is that an awful lot always seems to depend on luck. Where do babies come from? They come from all over - America, Vietnam, China - and the rules governing the transaction (because, among many other things, it is a transaction) are never exactly fixed. SARS... more

Learning to speak Chinese is fun. For English speakers, it's not particularly intuitive or easy, but the more you poke at Mandarin, the more it seems like a game. Case in point: chengyu, or four-character idioms. These are sayings that everyone in China knows and everyone uses in day-to-day conversation in Chinese, but that can remain a clockwork orange to readers who haven't joined the club. (See what I did there? Do you see?)

They... more

Going to Chengdu this month? Say "Hi" to Neil Gaiman at the 2007 International SF/Fantasy Conference.

Chengdu is a familiar city to those of us in the international adoption community, since it's home to lots of kids at... more

We like Yao Ming because he's cool. He pokes holes in stereotypes about small, subtle Chinese people by being big and in-your-face and famous. And, incidentally, because he's made China's AIDS orphans a reality for people around the world, when many prominent, influential folks are quite happy to forget they exist.

... more

When adopting a child from China, you enter a relationship with the Chinese government. Not just the country and the culture, but the whole system - at least temporarily, but if you're planning on returning in the future to show your child from where she (or he!) came, then for however long it takes. This makes some prospective parents uneasy.

Perhaps you'll rest easier knowing that ... more

I'm not a Chinese-American, but my kids are. Here's something about what that means.

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles is a blog that's mostly about all-American Chinese food, but recently devoted a little attention to Chinese-American history, thanks to the publication of a new book... more

You like the internet, right? (Otherwise, how did you get here??)

Here are three sites I've found to be useful:

Trendy, trendy Facebook has quite ... more

...On Universal Love.

When the princes love one another there will be no more war; when heads of houses love one another there will be no more mutual theft of office; when ordinary people love one another there will be no more mutual injury. When ruler and ruled love each other they will be benevolent and loyal; when father and son love each other they will be affectionate and supportive; when older and younger siblings love each other they will have harmonious words for everyone. When all the people in the world love one another,... more

Sometimes, with an intentional family like ours, one wonders what would have happened if we hadn't met. If the Magic Stapler in the referral room had attached someone else's photograph to our dossier.

This isn't necessarily a healthy thing to be wondering, but sometimes you can't help it.

See, I was reading about kids in China. Time had a (somewhat manipulative) story about the "disposable athletes" of China's Olympic... more