Lotus Connections

We were in a group of 24 people (8 families, each with a Chinese child adopted from Kunming). We visited Beijing, Xian, Kunming, Lijiang and Shanghai. The highlight of the trip was the visit to Kunming, which included the orphanage. We had adopted our daughter in 1994 when she was four months old. We were amazed how much the city has changed and grown in 12 years and were fortunate to have Lotus travel pave the way for our orphanage visit since visitations are no longer common practices and contain many barriers. The orphanage director and two of her staffs greeted us at the door. Once we were all inside, the director led us on an extensive tour of the building and the grounds. We were eventually taken through the room where our daughter once lived in! At the end of the tour, we watched a video about the foster care program and had some snacks and tea at the conference room. The deputy director from the BOL/CCAA and a few other adoption officials also joined us at the time. We commended on the beautiful and well-maintained orphanage and we also thanked them for the good caring they have provided. We also met a doctor and some of the nannies who worked at the orphanage when our kids were there. In each case, two or three of them recognized the child and seemed genuinely happy to be reunited with them again; at the same time, the kids felt great to be remembered by the nannies. We stayed at the orphanage for about three hours and really felt that it was an honor and privilege to be so warmly welcomed. Lotus Travel organized a banquet dinner and we invited about 12 orphanage staff included the director, the nannies and the officials from Beijing to join us at the Green Lake Hotel. The banquet was held in a private room and the food was delicious. The orphanage director, nannies and officials each went from table to table to make short speeches. The orphanage director even brought little gifts for each child. I really felt as though we were not only ambassadors representing adoptive families, but also the representatives of the United States. I hoped we've met and exceeded any expectations they might have had. The entire day was perfect and couldn't have gone better! We are especially thankful to Lotus for this special day because I knew it would not have taken place without their hard work!

- Patricia Lyman, Westminster, CO

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China Orphanage Visits

Due to the skyrocketing demands for China Homeland Heritage tours, the China Civil Affairs Bureau (CCAB) has announced new orphanage visitation policies on April 10th, 2006 to ensure successful and memorable birth country visits. Lotus Travel is working closely with local orphanages, the Provincial Civil Affairs Bureau (CAB) and CCAB to arrange meaningful visits under the recent changes.

Currently, each province adhers to a different set of regulations based on CCAB’s new policies. In order to visit an orphanage, adoptive families need to submit a set of required documents and a fee ranging from $150 to $275 (depending on the province) to seek visitation approval. An orphanage visit often serves as one of the most important components of the homeland heritage tour; planning and arranging such visitations can get emotional and stressful at times. With the assistance of Lotus Travel’s professional and diligent staff, adoptive families are ensured a smooth and successful visit.

Prior to your orphanage visit application submission, please make sure you have the following documents ready:

A copy of the adoption certificate or the notarized adoption documents
A copy of each visitor's American passport
An orphanage visit application letter
The name list of all visitors; make sure the relationship between each visitor and the adopted child is also listed.

All orphanage visits are conducted during weekdays; be sure to avoid weekends and Chinese public holidays visitations.

*Since visitations can be emotional, stressful and overwhelming, it is very critical that parents prepare their children both psychologically and physically before the day of visit. Also please be prepared that Families may also be expected to meet older children and or children with disabilities which can be emotionally disturbing.

Words from a recent orphanage visitor: Patricia Lyman.

Sample documents

Adoption Certificate one (pdf format)

Adoption Certificate two (pdf format)

Gifts to orphanage directors, caregivers, foster families and children

Lotus Travel highly recommends families to prepare red envelopes/packets to the orphanage directors, caregivers and foster families as gifts of appreciation and gratitude for their hard efforts; the recommended minimum is $100 RMB (approximately $15 USD) per packet .

Children at the orphanages are most in need of clothes, shoes and winter clothing. If you wish to purchase these necessities for them, Lotus Travel highly recommends purchasing locally in China to avoid occupying limited luggage space.

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