[kathlene]

I was at a birthday party today (my nephew's second) and we were chatting about our adoption and how special birthdays will be. One of the guests at the party came up with an idea that I thought was really sweet and that I thought I would pass along.
The idea went something like this: when we go to China, we should purchase 16-18 authentic Chinese gifts (fairly inexpensive) and for each birthday that our daughter celebrates (up to age 16 - 18) we would give her one of the gifts that we purchased while we were in her homeland. Now, the hard part...what kinds of gifts would you choose? I'll definitely have to do some work to find relatively inexpensive, but meaningful gifts to give. Any ideas?

Kat

[roseofchina]

When we started in the China program, our agency director conducted a special China parent workshop. It was great and she explained so many of their customs to us. One thing she said was that jade bracelets are very important to Chinese girls as a symbol of luck. So we purchased a solid green jade bracelet for our Whitley. We also purchased a chop that has the word "Rose" which is part of her name and it is hand-carved from jade also. Our last major purchase which she doesn't know about yet was a China tea-set. We have these things put away for her until she is older and can understand more about her birth country. The only thing we didn't get and I regret to this day was a string of pearls for her 16th birthday. We were supposed to have gone back to a pearl factory before going home...but time ran out so we didn't get to go. So, if anyone's traveling soon and would like to purchase a string of pearls for me (you'll be reimbursed, of course)....let me know! :-)

Sharon
dh - David
dd - Whitley Rose Hui

[cfc]

here are some ideas from another group I am on.




Pearls (great for a graduation or wedding gift)
Jade
Chopsticks
Silk (for wedding gown or dress)
Children's Chinese outfits she will grow into
Squeaky shoes in different sizes
Chinese Tea set
Cloidnestine? (not sure how to spell this, but they are hand painted glass
beads that decorate all kind of things, from jewelry to hair combs to
jewelry boxes)
Porcelain
Art
Chop with your daughter's name
Chinese toys
Chinese fan
Chinese silk hand painted sun umbrella
Also, each province usually has something special they are known
for....teas, silk, art, etc.
chinese music cd's

[Mommy Kim]

These All Sound Like Great Ideas Thanks For The Help, But What Is A Chop Used For, Is It Used As A Stamp? Just Wondering.

[An Song Tao]

It is a stamp usually carved out of stone with the person's name in old chinese characters. Some have embellishments as well. My chop you can see above. They are used like signatures are used here.

[kathlene]

These are great ideas! Thank you so much for sharing them with us. I am goig to make a list of all the items and start researching them for oour big trip!

Kathlene