January 24, 2020 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year 1 Comments

I am very excited about Chinese New Year this year because I am a Rat! My high school’s mascot was the River Rat so I wholly embrace my Chinese zodiac animal. The Great Race account of the Chinese zodiac tells the story of a race across a river. As legend goes, the crafty Rat hopped …Read More

September 19, 2018 Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, first year home, Megan V., Newly Home 3 Comments

Somewhere, in the mess of paperwork I keep in an accordion file in my office, is information regarding our responsibility to celebrate our Chinese children’s culture. It may be the only paper that isn’t notarized and certified, but I’m pretty sure we promised. To go to stuff and do stuff and celebrate stuff. This promise …Read More

September 15, 2018 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, recipes 0 Comments

Food is the greatest way to connect people to their past, it creates the kind of memory that isn’t easily forgotten. It’s been 26 years since I came to the US, but I still remember my favorite foods during my childhood in Hong Kong. I treasure the delicious dishes and soups my mother used to …Read More

August 17, 2018 birth family, birth family search, Carrie, Chinese Culture, heritage trip, orphanage, Post-Adoption contact, telling their life story 1 Comments

It’s a strange thing, this not having answers about the beginning. A mother is supposed to know the story of the day her daughter was born and the first days of her life. It’s the natural order of things. And the questions have stacked up in my mind these last few years… Was she left …Read More

March 4, 2018 Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, February 2018 Feature - Honoring China in the Everyday, should we adopt? 0 Comments

When I sat down to write about how our family incorporates and celebrates Chinese culture in our American home, I first thought of the decorations we put up during celebrations. However, my mind quickly turned from decorations, events, and holidays, to the people who have enriched our lives by sharing their lives and culture with …Read More

March 3, 2018 Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, February 2018 Feature - Honoring China in the Everyday 1 Comments

During our first home visit for our home study to adopt from China, we confidently showed our social worker around our sparkling clean house and answered all of his questions with ease. This is going great, I thought! What was I so worried about? T hen he asked us why we wanted to adopt from …Read More

February 28, 2018 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, February 2018 Feature - Honoring China in the Everyday, recipes 0 Comments

With the end of Chinese New Year approaching, I thought I would share a favorite recipe of ours to make during CNY or any time of the year. Although not a traditional Chinese dish, Pho is a favorite at our house. I would even say, this is not even a traditional Vietnamese version of Pho …Read More

February 21, 2018 Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, Chinese Language, February 2018 Feature - Honoring China in the Everyday 1 Comments

I cannot express how excited I was to see the “Honoring China in the Everyday” focus that No Hands But Ours had planned for this month. Not because we as a family have even begun to “arrive” in this department, but because our hearts yearn to raise citizens of the world who appreciate and revel …Read More

February 18, 2018 books, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, February 2018 Feature - Honoring China in the Everyday, Nicole 0 Comments

With the Lunar New Year holiday in full swing, it’s a terrific time to add a few titles to our China library!   Especially given that we were just studying a little bit of Chinese history during the Middle Ages, these new titles are perfectly timed. We read through all but the last of these …Read More

February 16, 2018 adoption community, Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese Language, Chinese New Year, February 2018 Feature - Honoring China in the Everyday 0 Comments

“Nian (Year) was a ferocious beast who would come out once every twelve moons, cause destruction and kill everything that crossed its path. However, Nian was afraid of the color red. So people put red strips of paper around their door frames so the destructive beast would pass over their house when it saw red …Read More

February 15, 2018 Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, February 2018 Feature - Honoring China in the Everyday, guest post 0 Comments

Tomorrow begins Chinese New Year! We are from Singapore and currently living in California now. Being so far away from home, it is so important for me to try to cultivate the love for Chinese culture and language in my children through these celebrations. To learn more about this important Chinese festival, I set up …Read More

February 15, 2018 Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, February 2018 Feature - Honoring China in the Everyday, Nicole 0 Comments

I had an uh-oh moment last week when I realized that Chinese New Year was just over a week away and we still hadn’t made any plans to celebrate. It didn’t sneak up on me. In fact, China’s biggest holiday has been marked on the calendar since before the new year. But truthfully, this has …Read More

February 12, 2018 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, February 2018 Feature - Honoring China in the Everyday 0 Comments

When we began celebrating Chinese New Year together after my son was born nearly five years ago, my wife and I did what many young families do when establishing their traditions. We carried forward a few practices from my parents and incorporated elements from our local community, the same way we had for Christmas and …Read More

February 8, 2018 Chinese Culture, Chinese Language, Chinese language tutor, February 2018 Feature - Honoring China in the Everyday 1 Comments

When we brought the boy we call Superman home from China four years ago, we had big dreams. We were going to maintain his language and his culture, and all of us were going to learn Mandarin, besides. At the time, our family lived in the Seattle-Tacoma area of the Pacific Northwest, where Asian churches …Read More

February 3, 2018 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, February 2018 Feature - Honoring China in the Everyday, recipes 3 Comments

When completing our home studies for each of our adoptions from China, one of the questions that came up both times with our social worker was how would we implement our new child’s culture into our family. We eagerly replied that we would celebrate Chinese New Year, would add Chinese décor to our home, and …Read More

February 1, 2018 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, February 2018 Feature - Honoring China in the Everyday, Nicole, recipes 0 Comments

Happy Year of the Dog! February 16th marks the start of the Chinese New Year and this February at NHBO we are focusing on ways to incorporate our children’s birth culture into the everyday. We’ll be sharing posts from parents who are doing this in big, elaborate ways and some in simple, small ways… but …Read More

January 31, 2018 adoptee perspective, books, Chinese Culture, embracing their story, guest post, heritage trip, orphanage, Post-Adoption contact, telling their life story 0 Comments

Patti Waldmeir, award winning author and foreign correspondent, raised her adopted Chinese daughters Grace and Lucy for half their life in China. She’s just published a book about raising them in the country that could not keep them… The Waldmeir family visiting Grace’s hometown of Yangzhou in 2008 /// “Do they know they’re adopted?” Soaking …Read More

November 4, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, guest post, recipes 17 Comments

I’m Maggie Zhu. I started Omnivore’s Cookbook in 2013. Born and raised in Beijing, now I’m a Austin based blogger, writer, recipe developer, and photographer. Learning and sharing Chinese food became a way to connect me with my roots and the rest of the world. It reminds me of who I am. I’m proud to …Read More

October 5, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, Whitney 2 Comments

If you’re the parent to a child born in a different country, you may have some of the same thoughts I have regarding keeping your child in touch with their birth culture. My daughter was born in China, and though she did not experience much of her own birth culture as a small child, I …Read More

October 4, 2017 adoptee perspective, adult adoptee, Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, Perspectives 2 Comments

For as long as humans have inhabited the earth (I assume), the moon has been a source of wonder and mystery. I imagine my ancestors staring up at the same moon, hundreds and even thousands of years ago in China. This year, the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival falls on October 4, within the National holiday for …Read More

October 3, 2017 Attachment, Carrie, Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, protecting their story, telling their life story 5 Comments

It’s Mid-Autumn Moon Festival in the land where you were born, Alea, and one thought keeps running through my head: My favorite moons are the perfect crescents your eyes make when you are happy and your face crinkles with joy. You are beautiful, child, inside and out — pure light, like the fullest of moons …Read More

September 29, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Kelley B. 4 Comments

One of the many unexpected surprises that came along with adopting three children from China has been my new love for Chinese culture – and an absolute adoration for Asian markets! If you know me on Facebook, you know my best friend and I (also a China mom) have been known to do a Facebook …Read More

September 28, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Nicole, recipes 0 Comments

Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is quickly approaching – this year it falls on October 4th! As we send our children off to school with love (or in my case, send them to the dining room table), I can’t help but reflect on all for which I’m thankful. During this incredibly busy season, the famous Moon …Read More

September 23, 2017 attachment activities, birth family, Chinese Culture, embracing their story, life books, protecting their story, telling their life story 3 Comments

I often see posts in the various adoption groups I am in where parents are looking for suggestions for favorite adoption themed books for their waiting or newly home children. While in process for our first daughter to come home from China, we received a list of children’s books that addressed adoption during one of …Read More

September 21, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Nicole, recipes 2 Comments

Chinese Bāozi is a much-loved dish in our family, so I was really looking forward to making it from scratch! Homemade always tastes more delicious than store-bought, at least in my opinion. There’s something special about freshly-made homemade dough, though it can be somewhat time consuming to pull together. Stuffing the buns could be a …Read More

September 20, 2017 adoption community, books, Chinese Culture, Rebecca 4 Comments

I pulled at the corners of my eyes, slanting them until all I could see was light and distorted faces. Then, I strung together a long chain of “Chinese-Japanese” words, “Ching, ching, chong, chang, chong.” It got me some laughs. Other kids did it too, so I guessed it was no big thing. I was …Read More

September 14, 2017 Brandie, Chinese Culture, orphan hosting, other ways to care for the orphan 1 Comments

“We are very fond of Chinese culture.” It was a statement I wrote sitting at a table in Nanjing, Jiangsu China on one of the many documents we signed in order to adopt our son in 2015. I promised to love him and protect him. I promised never to harm him or abuse him. And …Read More

June 1, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, Nicole 0 Comments

Értóng Jié Kuàilè! Happy Children’s Day! On June 1, the Chinese celebrate Children’s Day. Internationally, it is celebrated on several different days. It’s a day to remember and celebrate children, the future custodians of the country. The holiday’s origins date back to a 1925 international conference, with the intention to bring about child welfare awareness. …Read More

May 30, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Nicole 0 Comments

My first introduction to Duān Wǔ Jié, or Dragon Boat Festival, was in June of 2011 when my husband and I were in China to adopt our daughter. It was the first time I had ever stepped foot on Chinese soil. I knew very little about Chinese holidays and even less about Chinese culture. So …Read More

May 3, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, Faith, recipes 1 Comments

The Dragon Boat Festival (Duānwǔjié, or 端午节) falls on the fifth day of the fifth Lunar month each year. This year, the festival falls on Tuesday, May 30. For adoptive families in the paperwork process, that means that the CCCWA will close down for a couple of days in observance of the holiday. China will …Read More

April 29, 2017 Carrie, Chinese Culture, orphanage realities, orphanage visit 10 Comments

The day we were set to leave the hospital with our newborn daughter, no one asked us about our car seat. She was our first baby, and so I didn’t understand at the time how significant this insignificant thing would become to me. At the time, I didn’t realize that had she been born on …Read More

January 28, 2017 adoptee perspective, adult adoptee, Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year 0 Comments

Xīn Nián Kuài Lè! Happy Chinese New Year to you all! Chinese New Year is also known as the Spring Festival or Chun jie. There is nothing more exciting or anticipated in China than the New Year celebrations with all of their traditions and activities! It’s an important familiar and societal tradition to reflect upon …Read More

January 26, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Nicole, recipes 0 Comments

Although Fried Crab Wontons are not authentic Chinese food, they make an appearance at many of our family gatherings, especially the ones celebrating Chinese holidays. We’ll definitely be making them for Spring Festival, coming up in just a few days! A friend taught us how to make his recipe years ago, and we’ve been using …Read More

January 25, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, embracing their story, recipes, Stefanie 1 Comments

We love China for a million reasons. The biggest is that it is the birth country of nine of our thirteen children. But we haven’t always done the best job at reflecting that love in how we celebrate Chinese holidays and/or incorporate China into our day-to-day life. Because, honestly, with a big, busy, and on-a-budget …Read More

January 14, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, Nicole, recipes 3 Comments

I learned to make dumplings a few years ago when we hosted an exchange student from China. Everyone in the family enjoys eating them, and the process is so fun! Making dumplings, or jiǎozi, is definitely a social affair – it’s meant to be shared as a group. We enjoy making and eating them to …Read More

January 3, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, Faith 2 Comments

Last year, we had been home for a couple of months when Chinese New Year rolled around. Still adjusting to our new normal, I remember frantically ordering a few decorations from Amazon Prime to celebrate the occasion. This year, I wanted to be much more intentional about how our family celebrates this important holiday, so …Read More

September 13, 2016 Carrie, Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, recipes 4 Comments

When it’s time for a Chinese holiday, I think of only one thing… my stomach. Our first Chinese New Year in China was a never-ending stream of every kind of jiaozi (dumpling) imaginable – pork and leek, lamb and cilantro, shrimp and radish, pork and cabbage, pork and cucumber, pork and pork and pork and …Read More

September 11, 2016 Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays 0 Comments

I’ve been thinking a lot about camping as I prepare for the Mid-Autumn Festival on September 15. I love sitting around the campfire with my family after the sun sets and the stars come out. We hold mugs of hot chocolate, nibble on s’mores and steal quick glances up at the moon high overhead. Knowing …Read More

September 6, 2016 Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, Nicole, recipes 8 Comments

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is the second most celebrated Chinese holiday, falling on the 15th day of the 8th month according to the Chinese lunar calendar. This is the date of the Autumn Equinox, when the moon is at its farthest point from the earth and appears to be at its fullest and brightest. In China, …Read More

September 4, 2016 books, Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, Nicole 0 Comments

This year, the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival falls on September 15. It is a day of Thanksgiving and gratitude for the Chinese, when families reunite and give thanks for the harvest and family unity. It falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month (in September or October) when the moon is bright and full …Read More

April 1, 2016 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Nicole, recipes 0 Comments

I’ve had a few Egg Drop Soup failures in the past, but this recipe has redeemed my attempts. I love it because it’s simple, easy to make, and still adds Chinese cuisine to our menu. Plus, I almost always have the ingredients on hand. This version is a little Americanized I think, but the additions …Read More

February 8, 2016 Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, January 2016 Feature - Celebrating China, Nicole 0 Comments

Lunar New Year is here! Our celebrations have morphed over the years, especially depending on the season of life and ages of children. Some years are more festive, while others simply get a “Happy New Year” and a nice meal for recognition. Although we’re trying to establish a few traditions for the children, we don’t …Read More

February 2, 2016 books, Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, January 2016 Feature - Celebrating China, Kelly 2 Comments

In years past, I’ve scoured websites and bookshelves for every Chinese New Year/Spring Festival themed kids’ book around to read to our clan in anticipation of the holiday. We found some good ones and some not so good ones. Overthinker that I am, I hope my musings help you decide which ones are worthwhile for …Read More

January 31, 2016 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, January 2016 Feature - Celebrating China 2 Comments

My son was only 18 months old when Chinese New Year approached last year. From his perch on my shoulders, he gasped in amazement at the dragon dancers advancing along Market Street during San Francisco’s Chinese New Year parade, but he was too young to understand the cause for all the fuss. Now a year …Read More

January 19, 2016 Chinese Culture, Katie 2 Comments

Let me start out by saying I love China. I have been obsessed with the country since I was seven years old. So, when the pieces finally fell together for us to adopt from China I was beyond excited. I was so ready to bring in the culture of China to our home. I studied …Read More

January 18, 2016 Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, January 2016 Feature - Celebrating China, Nicole 1 Comments

  January marks a new year and a new feature here on No Hands But Ours. This month is all about Celebrating China and how you can incorporate more Chinese culture into your home, especially during the most celebrated Chinese holiday of the year, Chinese New Year. You can read the other posts in this …Read More

January 8, 2016 Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, January 2016 Feature - Celebrating China, Nicole 0 Comments

  Happy New Year! January marks a new year and a new feature here on No Hands But Ours. This month is all about Celebrating China and how you can incorporate more Chinese culture into your home, especially during the most celebrated Chinese holiday of the year, Chinese New Year.     Our family has …Read More

January 1, 2016 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, January 2016 Feature - Celebrating China, Nicole 0 Comments

  Happy New Year! January marks a new year and a new feature here on No Hands But Ours. This month is all about Celebrating China and how you can incorporate more Chinese culture into your home, especially during the most celebrated Chinese holiday of the year, Chinese New Year.     As Christmas activities …Read More

September 26, 2015 Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, Hannah 2 Comments

The perfect season has arrived to China. It’s not hot and muggy anymore, and it’s too early for the coal heaters to be running and clogging up our lungs with coal dust. The fields of corn are being harvested and streets are lined with a festive yellow. Corn corn corn. As far as the eye …Read More

August 19, 2015 China trip, Chinese Culture, July/August 2015 Feature - Going to China!, Katie 3 Comments

If you are in the process of adopting from China or have been in the past you know all about the dreaded holidays that seem to happen every month. You think you have a good timeline of when adoption/gotcha will take place and then you slam smack dab into the Autumn season of the beginning …Read More