Ｔｈｒｅｅ　Ａｄｏｐｔｅｄ　Ｃｈｉｌｄｒｅｎ　Ｖｉｓｉｔ　Ｒｏｏｔｓ　ｉｎ　Ｃｈｉｎａ

Ｓｈｅｎ　Ｈｏｎｇ　Ｊｉａｎｇ　Ｂａｏｇｅｎ　Ｌｏｕ　Ｈｏｎｇｓｈｏｕ

You Jun, You Qun and You Qi are three Chinese children adopted in 2001 by three American couples. On April 7, 2009, the three little girls came back to visit their roots in Longyou County in southern Zhejiang Province.

Their former home is the Longyou County Welfare Home where the orphans spent the first few months of their lives and today nearly 100 elderly people live there.

Zhang Guofu, the director of the house, said that the three girls were born respectively in April and May, 2004. They were officially adopted on February 20th, 2001 and brought to their new homes in Minnesota, USA. While they grew up, their stepparents kept in touch with the welfare home and sent their photos back. Under an agreement between the foster parents and the welfare home, all the three children have a Chinese surname You. This is a word in the name of Longyou County and therefore indicates their roots in China.

The three girls are nine years old in 2009 and their foster parents decided to take them back to where they had come from for a visit.

When the news came, the welfare home was in great excitement. The people there prepared. The crowds cheered when the bus approached and stopped. Three yellow-skinned black-haired girls stepped off the bus, together with six foreigners.

While the three families sat separately, the people watched curiously and tried to tell who was who. The interpreter introduced them all: the girl in black was You Jun, her foster mother Pam Mergens was a doctor. The girl in blue was You Qun, her foster father Gary Copland was a pathologist and her mother Lucia Copland a lawyer. And there was Jay Copland, You Quns brother. The girl wearing the glasses was You Qi, her foster father Todd Harper was a musician and her foster mother Lynn Harper a teacher.

Pam said the three families lived near to each other. The three girls learned Chinese in a local Chinese class. Now the girls speak some everyday Chinese.

The three families began to talk with the hometown people, gesticulating, guessing and smiling happily. Then Todd Harper brought out a flute and the three girls stood up and began to sing a song entitled “China always in My Heart”. They sang “We were born in China, our roots are in China and China is always in our hearts.” After the song, You Jun said in Chinese, “Longyou is engraved in my dream and my heart.” A few grannies wiped their eyes.

At nearly 11 oclock, Zhang Guofu proposed to sing the happy birthday song for the ninth birthday of You Qun, though the celebration at the house came one day after her birthday on April 6. Zhang proposed to sing for the happiness of the three girls, for the friendship between Chinese and American people.

“Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You…” The song went on loudly in both Chinese and English. □