"Chairman Mao was a very nice man."

Beijing-Tuesday August 21, 2007.

Part of the fun of adopting internationally, is getting to know your daughter's country. Jenny was our guide in Beijing. She is a wonderful woman. Not only did she run all the tours, she also took care of all of the children who were ill. For the first time parents she was a godsend, running up to rooms to teach parents how to change diapers, figure out the right mix for formula, or how to take a baby's temperature.

She also told us many stories about China. She took us one day to Tiannamen Square and the Forbidden City, on another day we went to the Great Wall. On the bus rides on the way over, she gave us a brief description of recent Chinese political history.

"Chairman Mao made his famous speech about the People's Republic of China in 1949 from the balcony of the Forbidden City," Jenny said. "Chairman Mao was a very nice man. Although he made a few mistakes later on in life."

There was Chairman Mao's portrait hanging from that grand building. She told us they change the painting once a year to make sure it looks fresh. There's a lot of pollution in China. I told her we change the Canadian Flag once a day on the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill because we don't want it ever to appear worn or ripped.

But that was it, no discussion of the cultural revolution, or Tiannamen Square, or anything else.

"Deng Xiao-Ping was a very short man," Jenny said. "But a very nice man. He started economic reforms in China."

She added, "Hu Jintao is a very nice man." He's the current President of China.

Jenny may have been brief on Chinese political history, but she had lots to say about Chinese culture. Her family got their first telephone in 1995.

"In the 1970s you were considered rich in China if you had a sewing machine, a bicycle, and a watch." Jenny said. "In the 1980s you were rich if you had a fridge, a television set, and a telephone. Now people are considered rich if they have an apartment, a car, and have one child."

Jenny has a child, an 18 month old boy, who she adores. She works very hard, but said in China they believe it takes six people to raise a child. She counted off the six people, "The Mother and Father, and grandparents on both sides of the family-SIX!" I thought to myself, what a wonderful tradition.

Then she explained why she never takes her jade bracelet off her left wrist. "My husband gave me this bracelet when my son was born," she said. "It means I am a Mother. I never take it off, even when I wash the dishes. It will become deeper in colour, as it gets older. I wear it on my left wrist, because it is closer to my heart. And our tradition is that you only take it off when your daughter marries, then you give it to her."

"Life is getting better, and happier in China." Jenny said. And the evidence of the prosperity she described was all around us. After a month in China, I have to say I love this country. The beauty of the countryside, the generosity of the grannies, the hope for a better life in the cities, and of course the best of all---Jasmine Yang Xi Zi Wan Boulet, a dream baby. She is hope, she is healing, she is pure joy.