CRANBERRY TWP — Lanterns, dragons and firecrackers signify Chinese New Year, a 15-day festival that begins in China with the first new moon of the lunar year.

Although the Chinese New Year begins today, the tradition was of special interest to a network of families who marked the occasion last weekend.

For them, family beginnings also are linked to China, the birthplace of their adopted children.

As members of the North Hills Chinese School, the children gather in Cranberry Township once a month to hear about their country of origin.

“Ni hao everybody,” one of the instructors said last weekend as children snuggled in a circle to hear the story “Lanterns and Firecrackers” by Johnny Zucker and Jan Barger Cohen. The story explains Chinese New Year, which many in the group observed by waving special donated flags and dressing in rich, traditional clothing.

As well as hearing stories about Chinese culture, the children learn words in Mandarin, do crafts and talk about China’s history as part of the informal school.

Occasionally, special guests are invited to speak, dance or demonstrate.

Last weekend, the group worked on identifying colors. “Who is wearing the color lan se?” asked Hope Parenti, prompting her students to identify the color blue. Parenti is one of several language instructors for the more than 50 families, which meet during the school year at the municipal center.

For many parents, such gatherings allow a venue for maintaining their children’s heritage. With diversity sometimes lacking in local communities, the groups offer a sense of unity with those of similar backgrounds.

“I want her to always know that everything about her is good,” said Lisa Schiller of Prospect about her 3-year-old daughter, Constance.

“And I want her to know that her birth parents loved her, and her nannies loved her and where she’s from is a good place. We try to always give her the message … but there are limits to what you can do to integrate Chinese,” she said.

For these reasons, Constance is part of a Chinese school in Stoneboro, Mercer County, similar to the one in Cranberry Township.

The family also attends a Chinese New Year celebration hosted in Philadelphia by Adoptions from the Heart, the agency used by Schiller and her husband Greg to adopt Constance.

“We connect with the Chinese New Year parties and other events with adoptive families so she sees there are other families like ours,” Schiller said, adding the events also allow them to stay in touch with families they met during their trip to China.

Although American families adopt children from numerous countries, China is among the more common destinations, said Brian Rossi, who runs the New Castle branch of Adoptions from the Heart.With limits on the number of children allowed per family, the heavily populated country is often a source of adoption for infant girls.Rossi was asked to open a local branch of the international adoption agency after adopting his own child through that agency in 2001.A single father, Rossi said he traveled to China because girls there can be placed in single-father households. Rossi said although some American states allow gay male couples to adopt daughters, none will place girls with unmarried men.“They offered me juvenile delinquent boys, but they would not offer me a girl because I’m heterosexual,” he said.“I lost a daughter years ago. I wasn’t married. It was right after I got out of ’Nam. I wanted to do something in her memory. You can’t replace a child, but I wanted to do something in her memory,” he said.“(The Chinese) were really getting a kick out of seeing a man carrying around a snuggli (baby carrier). I was U.S. national powerlifting champion in 1986, so I’m relatively larger,” he added.Rossi said China was more concerned with his age: As a single man, he was required to be 40 years older than the child to ensure she was sought as a daughter instead of a wife.Age also came into play for Kelley Streib of Cranberry Township, who adopted her Chinese-American daughter Sydney about five years ago.Although she was in her mid-30s at the time of Sydney’s adoption, Kelley’s husband Mike was several years older. Compared to some countries, China’s views on maturity were favorable to “older” parents. By Korean standards the couple’s combined ages exceeded the limit, Streib added.Although age played a role in the Streibs’ choice, Kelley said the couple was also influenced by the country’s rules about cancellation. At the time of Sydney’s adoption, biological mothers in the United States could change their minds up to six months after adoptions were finalized.“I was older, and to be honest I really didn’t want to deal with that issue,” said Streib, who has since also adopted a daughter from Guatemala.Although Pennsylvania’s waiting period has been cut to 30 days, adoptive parents still fear they will have to give their children back.“Many of them sign and then two weeks later they change their mind. They come back and get the child,” Rossi said. “A lot of people have tried that route and then went international. With international, it’s final.”According to Donna Gillespie, one of the Cranberry school’s founding members, health is also a factor. The typical eating habits of Chinese women and the absence of drugs and alcohol all play a role, she noted.Rossi agreed, saying alcohol-related problems tend to appear more often in babies adopted from Eastern Europe.“For us it was more emotional and mental health, because I knew what it would take to parent a child who had early neglect and hadn’t bonded,” said Schiller, who works as a social worker.“I’ve worked with lots of kids who were adopted both from the U.S. and Eastern Europe. … You don’t see Asian children coming into care. You don’t see Korean and Chinese and Vietnamese children needing treatment and therapy post adoption,” she said.Schiller attributed this absence to the quality of care provided in Chinese orphanages.“China is more likely to have an environment where babies were held and cared for and loved … and clearly Constance was,” she said of her daughter. “When we met her, within hours you could see how her nanny held her, how she liked to be fed — how she liked to be changed. You could tell this baby had been loved.”

According to Rossi, health is just one benefit of Chinese adoption.Although the cost runs around $25,000 for most international adoptions, Rossi said the Chinese provide an itemized account of how the funds are spent. Once administrative costs, travel and accommodation costs for parents have been deducted, most funds are put back into improving care at the Chinese orphanages.Rossi said the infant weights, which seem to rise in proportion to funds put back into facilities, are one indication the system is working.Others include screening done in advance.The applicants spend about a year and a half on paperwork and preparation before traveling in groups to meet their adopted children.To begin the process, applicants must submit specific forms of identification with background and medical clearances.Prospective parents must also attend a three-hour education course and prepare and complete a home study that addresses the applicant’s life, childhood and income, which can be as low as $20,000.A dossier, or autobiography of sorts, also is requested, duplicating some information in the home study.“You’re looking at about six months,” Rossi said of the paperwork process. “You have to bundle it all up, send it to New York. It has to be translated into Chinese — then it will be brought to China. China will notify you that your dossier has been received. That takes another three months,” he added.A period of five or six months is then required for Chinese officials to review applications.The last step is to attend a meeting in Philadelphia that prepares parents for their trip to China. A coordinator makes the travel arrangements, answers questions and suggests items new parents might need to transport their babies home.The parents spend about two weeks in China to bond with their babies and make sure they are satisfied with the match.Adoptions are finalized when the parents agree to a handful of statements in an informal Chinese court. The statements address the new parents’ intention to love and care properly for the child.

Arriving home, Rossi, Streib and other parents resume their normal routines — often incorporating Chinese elements into their child’s American life.As well as offering exposure through the schools and special celebrations, tokens from China can also be given.At the agency’s suggestion, Streib purchased items like jewelry and silver chopsticks to later be given as gifts.“I got beautiful silk wedding fabric. I had my grandmother make her (a ring pillow). I’m going to save that for her when she gets married,” she added.Although the gestures support a sense of Chinese heritage, most adoptive parents are equally clear their children are Americans.“This is our daughter. We’re going to raise her like she is our biological daughter. She is American,” Streib said.“One thing good about our country is the fact that it’s so integrated with so many races,” said Rossi.“About 10, 12, 15 years ago my daughter may have stood out. In her school alone there are five Chinese girls. She looks at herself as an American, but we don’t let her forget (her origins),” he said.Schiller offered a similar response. “Right now, she has no idea that she’s different.“My goal as a parent is for her to be proud to be from China and proud to be in our family — and happy with both,” she said.