Edith Mingzhu
(Ming Zhu)

Chinese Translation: (Ming) Bright... (Zhu) Pearl
Born: 6 December 1997
Forever Family Day: 12 October 1998
Parents: Doug & Eileen
Adoption Agency: The Florence Crittenton League
(Lowell, Massachusetts)

[...Photo Coming Soon...]

Below is an article that I wrote for my company's newsletter and that was edited/reprinted in our adoption agency newsletter. 

"Spicy Girl"

We returned to Boston from China on 23 October 1998 with our first child, Edith Mingzhu.  At about 10 months of age, Edie or Ming Zhu weighed less than 14 pounds but was healthy, alert, affectionate and extremely cute.  Eileen and I joke that it was about time that we had somebody good looking in our family.

Before 'The Trip', we had traveled overseas, scoured the Internet & talked with recent returnees...as first time parents, we were still clueless.  We traveled alone to Changsha but overlapped with another couple from our agency (Florence Crittenton League) and 10 families from the Children of the World agency (Alabama), all adopting from Chenzhou.  Arriving in Changsha very late, we called our agency first thing in the morning to confirm our appointment for that evening and found that Edie was already waiting at the provincial offices.  We had 15 minutes to pack supplies for a baby of unknown size/diet and grab a cab.  Within 30 minutes we were feeding and changing her and within two hours, we were back at the hotel after signing many forms and paying the crisp cash fees.  Zero to parenthood in one shot of adrenaline!  Edie is very good natured.  From the moment that we met to the 24-hour flight home, she smiled a lot and bonded to us quickly.

China is an incredible country with friendly, diverse and thin people.  The contrasts are strong - crowded, modernizing cities and primitive rural areas, Mercedes-Benz and horse-drawn carts.  One lesson learned was that extracting hard-currency from foreigners is institutionalized via 'tourist' hotels, restaurants, cabs, stores, shows and absurd bureaucratic procedures.  If you have time for more detailed planning, you can avoid some of this.  Individuals, on the other hand, were incredibly hospitable.  We couldn't walk far before a crowd would gather to check out our baby, suggest warmer clothing (a healthy baby 'must' sweat), talk about the world, practice their English (better than our Chinese) and wish us luck.  One evening, a friend in Guangzhou took us to a real Cantonese restaurant for dinner.  We had some great seafood but did not try the fresh dog, heron, bee-grubs and fuschia worms.  As usual, Edie enjoyed captivating the attention of most of the wait staff.

We traveled for 18 days to provide time for sight-seeing and schedule problems...this helped keep our stress levels down with the many flight delays.  We got stuck in Tokyo for one day where we walked the hotel gardens, watched hummingbirds and feasted on seaweed & noodles.  This unexpected stop left me stumbling in 'Shogunese'...it took all my concentration not to say 'Hai Toranaga-sama' to each question!  In Beijing, everything, including tricycles loaded with cook-stove fuel, was fascinating to us which bewildered our tour guide.  The popular tourist sites were great but we found the Summer Palace and wandering through the Hutong (old neighborhoods & markets) to be the high points.  Here I got a haircut for $3 and we strolled through the tropical fish market where you could buy a bag o'goldfish to a rare red Arawana for good luck.  These were the places where you could get a sense of the real China which has progressed incredibly.

Changsha was underrated in our guide books...the museums, street activities & country-side (west side of Xiang River) were again fascinating, particularly in contrast with the more 'jaded' Beijing.  Edie found gold artifacts, cash and cameras most interesting.  Our Changsha guide/interpreter, Ashley Sheh, contributed to this good experience.  Parenthood is always an adventure.  We just started ours with frequent flyer miles.  Now at the advanced age of 20 months, Edie has caught up in all respects.  Within weeks, she started teething, crawling, cruising, solid foods, babbling, etc.  In no time, she should be helping me finish the woodwork in her bedroom!

Regards,
Doug, Eileen & Edie