Sheena Macrae

　　WHEN we adopted our first daughter from China, we really had little idea of what Shenzhen was like. In fact, when the referral came through in February 1998 and we heard our child was being cared for in Shenzhen, we had no idea what to expect.

　　We seized on guidebooks and read all about Deng Xiaoping and the special economic zones.

　　We read about Bao’an, a fishing village, and we read about the population of Shenzhen 20 years on. We marveled at the changes wrought in China to open up the nation to world development and economic forces.

　　We arrived in Shenzhen via the Guangzhou Express: the first stages of the adoption paperwork were done in Guangzhou.

　　But even on that first visit we were enthralled. We loved the feeling of space which contrasted with Hong Kong and the feeling of enclosure, we saw the excitement of profit made visible through many new skyscrapers, all in “Shenzhen” colors of pink and purple, we loved the parks and the reservoir.

　　We met people who stared, some who nodded approval at us with our China-born daughter and others who concerned us.

　　That first visit we walked miles, to the consternation of that first guide. He so desperately wanted us safely in a taxi.

　　We also visited the old town and felt out of place. It was very different and the stares were harder there. We noted Titanic was playing at the new cinema and we felt good that the world was coming closer together.

　　We have come to Shenzhen each year since 1998 to firstly pay our respects to the Shenzhen Social Welfare Center which cared for our child for the first 18 months of her life. The staff at the center have done so much for us. Through our friends in Shenzhen, we have been able to put together much of our daughter’s early life and her social and medical conditions.

　　Because of this feeling, we have, as a family, resolved to return to China as often as possible. We are beginning to feel that it is less useful for our daughter to revisit the orphanage. Rather, it is good for her to come to China to meet with friends.

　　She can learn then of her Chinese roots from these friends. This is important, because now she is no longer Chinese. She may look Chinese, but her behavior is that of a British child, which is what she now is.

　　I love the new culture in Shenzhen, the buildings, the awareness of environmental concerns, the finance and the city logos.

　　My little child’s name is Zi Yuan, or in English “Purple Flower Garden.” An exotic name, I am told, for a baby, but just right for a child born in Shenzhen to parents not from Shenzhen. She is a great symbol of the flourishing of China in external soil. And her English name also means “Scottish purple flower.” We are Scottish people living now near London.

　　I am proud to be connected with Shenzhen.