Shui Guang Zhi

Our daughter Shui Guang Zhi (shway gwong zhih) was born on February 1, 1996 in the city of Xi'an, the province of Shaanxi, China. This is the photograph that accompanied Guang Zhi's original paperwork from China. To get a sense of this photograph, imagine that the picture on your driver's license is the only photograph that total strangers half-way around the world will see of you for a long time. We're glad to have it, though! This photo was probably taken when she was several months old, but there's no way to know for sure.

What we know
We don't know too much, at this point. Shui, her family name, means water or liquid. Guang Zhi is her first name; it means open flower. Her height and weight were not included with the paperwork, so we don't know how big she is.

We do have some unusual information about her, however--for example, at the age of 2 1/2 months, the depth of fat beneath her skin was 1.0 centimeters, and the circumference of her head was 40.5 centimeters! Her medical report is almost a year old, but it says she was healthy at the time.

The red thread
Some people say that an invisible red thread connects you to all the significant people in your life. This thread can't be broken; it is a connection that you can't perceive. Guang Zhi's original paperwork was notarized and verified in the Fourth University Army Hospital in China on July 17, 1996--Steve's birthday last year. Hmmm...

About Xi'an
XI'an is the largest city in Shaanxi, a rural province in central China. The Shaanxi province was the political, economic, and cultural center of China prior to the 10th century. For a period of over 1100 years, 13 dynasties ruled China from this location.

In the west, Xi'an is probably best known as the location of the mausoleum of the emperor Qin Shi Huang, who ruled China between 259 and 210 BC. This emperor was buried with hundreds of full-size terra cotta statues of soldiers. The famous silk road, an over-land route linking China to the western world, begins in Xi'an. The silk road winds westward through China to Afghanistan and Iran, before moving toward India in the south and the Mediterranean in the north.

The first picture

This is the first photograph we received of Guang Zhi. When our agency received her paperwork from China, they photocopied her photograph and faxed it to us. We scanned the fax to create this image--so she's looking a little fuzzy--but we still think she's adorable!

The dates
Dossier to China: 8/7/96
Referral: 4/18/97
Permission to travel: 7/30/97
Departure for China: 8/7/97 (actually 8/8/97 at 1 a.m.)

Were we excited? Yes! Click here to see a photo of us the night we got the referral.