China adoption travel: Guarding money and passports

China adoption travel was exciting for us, but keeping our money and passports safe was a constant worry.

In 2001 the orphanage donation was $3000. This was a lot of money to carry around in cash for any length of time. We were nervous about it to say the least.

Every family carried their donations and other money in ways that was comfortable for them. For us, we carried the $3000 in cash and a lot of the other money in Traveler’s checks.

We physically carried our money in money belts around our waists hidden under our clothing in a passport money case . We thought the money would get wet from perspiration so we wrapped it in small plastic Ziploc bags. These bags were also great for holding loose change.

The rest of our money was split almost equally between my husband and me. Other families liked the money pouches worn around the neck that could be slipped under shirts or jackets. Both worked very well.

I noticed one family used the money belt but divided the money into separate envelopes. Each envelope contained each fee that was to be paid to the orphanage and officials. This method helped them keep up with exactly how much they spent.

We carried one major credit card in addition to Traveler's checks and cash but never used it. Before our China adoption travel we called our credit card company and told them we were going to China. This way if we needed to charge something in China the company would know it was us.

The hotel rooms had safes for valuables, but we did not leave our money in them. We keep it with us at all times during our China adoption travel.

Our agency did a great job of estimating each fee in China. I remember only one fee being about $50 off. The others were exactly what they said they would be. Fortunately, we alloted extra money for fees to be a little different.

Our Chinese guide gave us a great tip for handling money when shopping. She said to take out what we planned on spending in the shops and put that in our front pants pocket. That way the vendors/merchants would only see the money we took out of our pockets to pay them.

Spending money during our China adoption travel was very easy for us. There were some great bargains. We were told , however, to bargain with all the merchants. There were exceptions to this practice. Our guides were very honest and told us before we went into a shop if we could bargain.

Sometimes, though, we went without our guide. This was when the fun began. My husband is the bargain hunter in our family, so I let him have the reigns.

He bargained hard for our pearl necklaces, and we got them for a very reasonable price. I loved watching him tell the sales lady what he would pay by pushing the calculator to her. She would take the calculator to her manager, come back with a counter offer, and the fun would begin again. We didn't know Chinese, but we discovered numbers were a common language.

During our China adoption travel we never let our money out of our site. At the same time, we never really felt threatened or targeted. Yes, we worried about carrying such large quantities of cash. We just tried to be as prudent and careful as we could. We learned quickly we had other things to occupy our minds and hearts.

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