Six-year-old Ying Li learns Chinese calligraphy with her adoptive mother. Cheryl Bonfils-Rasmussen from Texas, at the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption in Beijing on Tuesday. Wang Jing / China Daily

Fahnle said while it was difficult at first, the boy adapted to his new life in the US after a couple of months.

Some 130 American families with 200 adopted Chinese children are scheduled to spend three days in Beijing. Activities include a cultural class in the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption, which is in charge of overseas adoption affairs, visiting tourist attractions such as the Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall, and taking a bite of famous Peking Duck.

The group will then travel to three popular tourism cities of Xi'an, Chengdu and Guilin. The Chinese government will cover their travel expenses in China.

Some families also plan to visit the child welfare institutes where the adopted children used to live.

Cheryl Bonfils-Rasmussen from Texas said she plans to take her two daughters Mei Li, 9, and Ying Li, 6, to visit their Chinese "hometowns". The two girls were adopted from child welfare institutes in East China's Jiangsu province and Southwest China's Chongqing municipality.

Bonfils-Rasmussen said she was upfront to her daughters about their history and both of them feel curious about their past in China.

The mother also encourages her daughters to study Chinese language and culture in their daily life.

"They are very proud of their Chinese background. They perform Chinese dances at school at New Year festivals and other cultural events and when teachers want to talk about Chinese culture, they often ask the girls to participate and share their cultural heritage with the classroom."

Overseas families have adopted more than 100,000 Chinese children since the 1990s, according to the statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

"This tour is helpful to improve these children's confidence, because it made them feel the love of their motherland although their birth parents abandoned them for certain reasons," said Lily Nie, the founder and CEO of the Chinese Children Adoption International, a Colorado-based agency.

Zhang Shifeng, director of the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption said this kind of tour also gives the Chinese authorities a chance to see if the children adopted from China have been taken care of by their adoptive families.

hedan@chinadaily.com.cn