What are they thinking?

So, two white people walking the streets of Guangzhou with a Chinese,
10-month-old baby has been an interesting experience.

Yesterday, we did some sightseeing: went to a great museum of ancient
artifacts and the tomb remains of the Nan-Yue King from the Western-
Han Dynasty (around 100 b.c.). There were all sorts of international
tour groups there, and so we had our first taste of interactions with
the outside world. Almost everyone smiles at her, but there is always
a strange moment when they look at us and it registers: they are
adopting this child. Obviously.

I don't know what they think. And while I'd love to say, I don't
care. But I do care, for Zi, for what her life will be like. We,
after all, going to live in Georgia. Not the most progressive place.
And, not with a high population of Asian people.

The beautiful irony, says the guidebook, of Shamain Island, is that it
was once occupied by France and England, who did not allow Chinese to
come to the Island. Now that the Chinese control it again, this is
where we (outsiders) come to adopt Chinese children. Is this the new
colonialism? I have to wonder...

So, we have been asking our guides what the attitudes of Chinese
people are toward American adoption of their children. And,
surprisingly, the two guides did not give us the same answers. One
said that it is difficult (and expensive) for Chinese to adopt the
children themselves. In what she said, I gathered that there are many
Chinese people who would like to adopt these children, but cannot.
And, as I (too frankly?) told the guide, that saddens me. The other
guide, though, said that things are getting easier for Chinese
families to adopt. That while the orphanage fee still has to be paid,
the government is allowing/encouraging more families here to adopt.
On the other hand, t is expected that the one-child policy will remain
in effect for the next twenty years.

As far as treatment on the streets, it is mixed (of course). Some
families talk to Zi, smile at her or us, and seem to react as if they
see it every day (which they probably do here in Guangzhou because all
foreign adopters must come here to get their American passports/
citizenships for the children). Others, though, are less friendly.
No one is openly hostile, but we are treated a little less cordially
than we were before we received her.

When we asked the guide what Chinese people thought of Americans,
generally, she said that until recently, they thought that all
traveling Americans must be rich to be able to visit China, but that
idea is changing. She says that it is generally thought that
Americans have more human rights and better health care. We were
quick to say that that those rights and privileges work on a sliding
scale. The richest people have the best health care and the most
rights. Rich people rarely find themselves in prisons (or if they do,
they go to the nicer ones: think Martha Stewart). She seemed
surprised we would say this, but then agreed that this is typical of
all human civilizations.

We are all people. Selfish, greedy, and in love with our children.