By Renee Myers, America World Adoptive Mom

For years, we had talked about taking our son, Shuai, back to China to visit. We knew we wanted to return while he was still young enough to experience the trip with us, but old enough to understand what it meant. We wanted him to see the places we had once seen, but more importantly, we wanted him to have his own memories of the country where his story began.

We had spent about a year looking at heritage tours with other organizations, but nothing fit our schedule. Shuai's summer swim season runs through the end of July, and we didn't want to take him out of school. Then America World announced an August 2026 China Heritage Tour. It felt like an answer to prayer.

An Unexpected Friendship

Before the trip, we wondered how Shuai would connect with the other adoptees. He was 13, while the other two were girls, ages 13 and 16. We weren't sure what to expect.

As it turned out, we didn't need to worry. Shuai and 16-year-old Eliana arrived in China on the same flight. After our guide greeted us at the airport, the two teenagers ended up sitting together in the back of the bus on the way to the hotel. The bond was immediate.

It didn't matter that they were different ages or personalities. They shared something that none of the rest of us could fully understand: They were Chinese adoptees returning to their birth country for the first time.

When the third adoptee, Nina, joined us the following day, the three became inseparable. They sat together on the bus, walked together through the sites we visited, and naturally sought each other out throughout the trip.

Watching the three of them together was one of the trip's unexpected gifts. They shared an experience that few people can truly understand, and we hope the memories they made together will stay with them for years to come.

The Gift of Traveling Together

Like we experienced on our son's adoption trip, traveling with other families for a Heritage Tour was an added blessing. Because our group was relatively small, we had the opportunity to really get to know one another. We could all sit around the same table at meals, hear each other's stories, and talk about what we were experiencing.

Those end-of-day conversations became especially meaningful. Heritage travel can bring up a lot of emotions, and having other families around who understood the unique experience of adoption gave us space to process it together.

“Welcome Home, Little Shuai”

We had been looking forward to one part of the trip more than anything else: visiting the orphanage where Shuai spent the first 20 months of his life.

We had always believed that Shuai had been loved and cherished there. The nanny who brought him to us and the beautiful baby book filled with photographs and memories had given us glimpses of the people who cared for him before he joined our family. But nothing could have prepared us for walking through those doors.

As we arrived, we were greeted by a huge banner saying, “Welcome Home, Little Shuai.”

I was completely overcome.

The welcome that followed was more than we could have hoped for. The orphanage leadership team spent nearly half a day with us. They gave us a tour, excitedly looked through photos of Shuai, arranged a FaceTime call with the nanny who had brought him to us, and prepared an incredible feast of nearly 20 dishes. They treated us like family returning home after a long separation.

At one point, they took us into a room filled with awards the orphanage had received. We were about to leave when our daughter spotted something among a collage of children adopted from the orphanage.

It was a photograph of Shuai.

It was an unforgettable moment for all of us.

For Shuai, the entire day was different from anything we had experienced before. The directors and staff made a special effort to welcome him and help him understand that he was remembered and cared for.

At one point, Shuai walked over to one of the directors and asked whether they knew anything about his family. The director pointed toward Chris, me, and his siblings and said, “You have your family there, and we are all your family. You are always welcome to come home here.”

Those words will stay with us.

Our guide, Joy, was also an incredible part of the visit. She helped us communicate with the orphanage staff and worked tirelessly to uncover pieces of Shuai's story that we had wondered about for years. She became an extension of our family that day.

Seeing China Through His Eyes

Our journey took us through Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai. We visited some of China's most famous landmarks: the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and the Terracotta Warriors. We also experienced China's high-speed train and the unique atmosphere of Shanghai.

We enjoyed seeing these places, but more importantly, we loved that Shuai was experiencing them for himself.

For years, he had heard our stories about China. He knew about the places we had visited when we traveled there to adopt him. He knew about the hand-carved chess set, jade jewelry, tea, and artwork we had brought home.

But those weren't his memories. Now they are.

When people ask Shuai where he is from, he can answer from personal experience. He can tell them about the city where his story began, the orphanage where he spent his first 20 months, the people who cared for him, and the places he visited.

That is something we could never give him simply by telling stories or showing him pictures.

A Story That Will Continue

We wholeheartedly recommend a China Heritage Tour to other adoptive families. For us, the trip was a way of telling Shuai, “We want to know all of you, not just the parts of your story that began when you joined our family.” We wanted him to know that his Chinese heritage matters to us because he matters to us.

And now he has something he didn't have before: his own stories. His own memories. His own connection to the place where his life began.

Shuai has already said he wants to return to China someday, perhaps when he is in college. We hope he does. And we believe this trip has given him the courage and security to continue to explore and understand where his story began.

For us, the journey wasn't simply a trip to China. It was a meaningful opportunity to reconnect with an important part of Shuai's story, and we will always be grateful that we got to experience it together.

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