It started with a dream of becoming parents.

That dream took us halfway around the world. And instead of slowing down, we ended up traveling even more - to give our daughter the world.

Who are we?

We are a husband-and-wife team from Minnesota, who adopted our daughter in June 2007. The adoption trip to China changed our lives, of course, but what we didn’t expect was just how much we enjoyed the whole experience. As our daughter grows up, we've already taken her to Asia several times, as well as various cities in North America with significant Asian districts. And we plan on going back again and again to visit new places, reconnect with the culture, and help our child understand more about where she comes from.

Even though we had a great time, we encountered situations we wished we had been told about beforehand. Some things were minor annoyances, some were simply awkward, but none were disasters. We also came across wonderful situations that other families we traveled with missed out on, either because they were dealing with their own minor snafus or were simply not paying attention to the right thing at the right time.

As we talked with the other parents during our trip, and connected again now that we’ve all been home for a while, each family had its own stories – a problem with a hotel room, discovering obsolete information in a guidebook, having a great dinner at a little restaurant around the corner, dealing with the heat, trying to purchase something in a shop – where they expressed the same idea of “we wish we had more knowledge about this before we got on the airplane.”

The blog we kept during our travels received a great response, and still picks up traffic from interested families. A panel discussion we were on at our agency for prospective parents also went well. As we kicked around the idea of creating a resource for parents about to travel, we received enthusiastic responses.

So we’ve decided to set this website up to collect the experiences and advice of fellow travelers, those who’ve traveled for adoption, and those who’ve lived in China. Their stories and ours, and hopefully yours, are all incorporated in the entries you’ll see here. As the number of foreign adoptions have fallen off, we've adjusted the mix of articles on weninchina to appeal more broadly to "family travel" in general, and to expand our coverage to East Asia - in particular, Greater China, Japan, Korea, and Singapore.

We also look at Asian communities in North America because they're wonderful cross-cultural places to learn and try new experiences, without a 12-hour plane trip.

Where are we?

Twitter - our preferred communication channel, many updates every day. Check us out or DM us at @weninchina.

Blogspot - occasionally updated... weninchina.blogspot.com

Facebook - Several updates per day of interesting travel and culture from East Asia: https://www.facebook.com/weninchinacom-73253465170/

Pinterest - Dozens and dozens of boards! Places we've been, places we want to go, food, culture, and other neat stuff, new pins daily: https://www.pinterest.com/weninchina/

Instagram - Trying it out. https://www.instagram.com/weninchina/

YouTube - A few videos on our channel. Wish we had a bigger travel budget and a better camera setup!

Flickr - I should contribute more: https://www.flickr.com/photos/weninchina/

Email - the first iteration of this site had its email accounts spoofed, so to prevent that from happening, we won't be posting addresses. Talk with us through Twitter!

Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 26, 2018

User Agreement

weninchina.com is a website owned and controlled by D. Scott Norris. ("weninchina"). Users must carefully read and agree to these terms and conditions (the "Agreement") before accessing or using any website or application that weninchina owns or controls. By visiting, "pinging," or linking to the website, users are agreeing to the terms and conditions contained within this Agreement. This Agreement applies to any website or web-based application owned or controlled by weninchina, and references to a "site" are applicable to all such websites and applications.

weninchina may amend or change this Agreement at any time. Amendments or changes are effective upon posting unless weninchina indicates that there will be a different effective date. Please bookmark this page and check it frequently as it is up to the user to refer to this page for any amendments or changes to this Agreement.

Note: By using weninchina’s websites and services, the user is entering into a legally binding agreement.

1. OPERATOR OF WEBSITE AND DEFINITIONS

This website is operated by D. Scott Norris, Falcon Heights, MN 55113 USA. Contact via Twitter: @weninchina.
"Services" means any functions, facilities, applications, information, or other services available through this website, including, where applicable, internet-service-provider and/or internet-access services.
"weninchina" means weninchina.com and any related websites, blogs, or social-media accounts hosted on Squarespace or any other provider.
"User" means any person who accesses or uses this website with or without weninchina’s authorization, whether or not you are registered to use this or part of this website, or a member or registered user of a service offered through this website.
"Website" means the website, home page and underlying webpages, or other collection of information and/or applications operated by weninchina and available for access via physically linked or wireless networks, including the internet and networks accessible using wireless application protocol or similar technology, through access devices such as PCs, laptop computers, mobile telephones, PDAs, digital cameras, televisions, or other network-enabled devices.

2. ACCESS AND USE OF THIS WEBSITE

By accessing, browsing, or downloading any part of this website or its content, by posting or uploading to this website, or by using this website and its content in any other way, users agree to comply with these terms and conditions, without modification, and all relevant applicable laws.

As a condition of use of this website, users warrant that they:

possess the legal authority to create a binding legal obligation;
will use this website in accordance with these terms and conditions;
will only use this website to make legitimate transactions;
will only supply true, accurate, current, and complete information to this website;
will safeguard their own account information and will supervise and be completely responsible for any use of their account; and
will hold harmless and indemnify weninchina and Squarespace for any negligence and/or unintentional access caused by users of this website.

3. ANTICIPATED FUNCTIONALITIES

These terms and conditions may contain provisions that contemplate functionalities or services that are not, and are not intended to be, available through this website. To the extent that any provision of these terms and conditions relates solely to such functionalities or services, they shall be of no force or effect and shall not affect the validity of the other provisions.

4. ACCEPTABLE USE

Users agree that they will not:

use this website in any way or take any action that causes, or may cause, damage to the website or impairment of the performance, availability, or accessibility of the website;
use this website in any way that is unlawful, illegal, fraudulent, or harmful, or in connection with any unlawful, illegal, fraudulent, or harmful purpose or activity;
use this website to copy, store, host, transmit, send, use, publish, or distribute any material that consists of, or is linked to, any spyware, computer virus, Trojan horse, worm, keystroke logger, rootkit or other malicious computer software;
conduct any systematic or automated data collection activities, including, without limitation, scraping, data mining, data extraction, and data harvesting, on or in relation to our website without weninchina’s express written consent;
access or otherwise interact with this website using any robot, spider, or other automated means;
violate the directives set out in the robots.txt file for our website; or
use data collected from this website for any direct marketing activity, including without limitation email marketing, SMS marketing, telemarketing and direct mailing.

Users agree that they will not use data collected from this website to contact individuals, companies, or other persons or entities.

5. NO WARRANTIES -WEBSITE SERVICES AND CONTENT

All website content and services are provided "as is" and "as available". weninchina expressly disclaims, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, any warranties and representations of any kind with respect to website content and services, either expressed or implied, including any implied warranties of merchantability, satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement of third party intellectual property rights.

weninchina gives no warranty that this website’s content is appropriate, available, or permitted for use in all locations. Those who access this website and use website content and/or services are responsible for compliance with all applicable law and regulations, including any applicable local laws.

Although weninchina has attempted to verify the accuracy, reliability, and currency of all website content, including, as applicable, products, services, support and other details and descriptions obtained from third parties, weninchina gives no warranty as to the accuracy of any statements in this website. Any materials, products, support, services or information referred to on this website may be out of date. weninchina makes no commitment to update website content. weninchina disclaims any liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in website content. Any decisions based on information contained in website content are the sole responsibility of the user.

weninchina gives no warranty that functions or services available through weninchina and other user interactions with the website will be constantly available, uninterrupted, secure, or error-free; that defects will be corrected; or that this website or the server that makes it available are free from viruses or other harmful components. weninchina assumes no responsibility and is not liable for any damage or loss from viruses.

The information contained on this website content does not constitute legal, professional, financial or medical advice and should not be relied upon as such. Website content containing forward-looking statements or statements of intention should not be relied upon.

Where applicable law prohibits or limits weninchina’s exclusion of warranties as set out above, weninchina excludes, disclaims, and limits such warranties to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law.

6. NO WARRANTIES - TRANSACTIONS WITH THIRD PARTIES

Where it is possible for users to transact with a third party through this website, such transaction shall be solely between the user and the third party and any rights and obligations shall arise between the user and the third party, not between the user and weninchina.

The limitation of liability reflects the allocation of risk between the parties. The limitations specified in this section will survive and apply even if any limited remedy specified in these terms and conditions is found to have failed of its essential purpose. The limitations of liability provided in these terms and conditions inure to the benefit of weninchina.

Applicable law may not permit the liability exclusions in this section in all cases. The liability exclusions in this section apply only to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law.

7. NO ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP

This website is made available "as is" for general educational and informational purposes only. The website does NOT convey legal advice and should not be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice. A user’s use of the website does not create an attorney-client relationship nor any other confidential relationship between the user and weninchina, its principals, employees, agents, or representatives.

8. INDEMNIFICATION

The user agrees to defend and indemnify weninchina and its affiliates and any of its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, causes of action, demands, recoveries, losses, damages, fines, penalties, or other costs or expenses of any kind or nature including, but not limited to, reasonable legal and accounting fees brought by third parties as a result of the user’s:

breach of these terms and conditions or the documents referenced herein;
violation of any law or the rights of a third party; or
use of this website.

9. GOVERNING LAW AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

These terms and conditions are governed by the laws of the State of Minnesota, USA, and by the controlling United States federal law. If any provision is deemed by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unlawful or unenforceable, it will not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions. The section headings are for convenience only and do not have any force or effect.

Except with respect to equitable remedies and disputes related to the ownership and protection of intellectual property, the parties agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising hereunder or relating in any way to this Agreement shall be settled by binding arbitration in Ramsey County, Minnesota, in accordance with the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") with judgment upon the award rendered by the arbitrator to be entered in a court of competent jurisdiction.

Each party to the arbitration is to pay an equal part of the deposit fixed by the AAA. Notwithstanding the determination of the arbitrator, (i) all costs associated with the arbitration and imposed by the AAA or the arbitrator shall be borne equally by each party to the arbitration, and (ii) unless the Arbitrator awards payment of reasonable attorney fees to a party, each party to the arbitration shall be responsible for its own attorney fees and other professional fees incurred in connection with the arbitration. Determinations of the arbitrator will be final and binding upon the parties to the arbitration. Judgment upon the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction, or an application may be made to such court for a judicial acceptance of the award and an order of enforcement, as the case may be. The arbitrator shall apply the substantive law of the State of Minnesota without giving effect to its conflict of laws rules.

10. USERS’ JURISDICTION

This website and web-based application are controlled and operated from offices within the United States of America. We make no representation that materials on this website are appropriate or available for use outside the United States or that access to the content from all countries and/or territories is legal. If the user accesses this website from locations outside the United States, he is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

weninchina makes no representation that any information, materials, or features/functions included are appropriate for use in any other jurisdiction. This website is not directed to any person in any jurisdiction where, by reason of that person's nationality, residence, citizenship or otherwise, the publication or availability of the website and its content is contradictory to local laws or regulations. Persons with respect to whom such restrictions or prohibitions apply must not access or use this website. By accessing or using this website, the user does so on his own initiative and is solely responsible for compliance with the applicable local laws and regulations.

11. COPYRIGHT – OWNERSHIP OF WEBSITE CONTENT

weninchina does not transfer title to any website content downloaded or used by the user. All website content is protected by copyright and other laws. Limited permission to use website content is specifically conditioned on user's recognition, observance and retention of all copyright, trademark, and other proprietary notices in website content, and all proprietary and other intellectual property rights of weninchina or Squarespace and/or content and technology providers (such as but not limited to creators/copyright holders of photography featured on weninchina.com.)

The content and information on this website, including, but not limited to, messages, data, information, text, music, sound, photos, graphics, video, maps, icons, software, code, or other material, as well as the infrastructure and all applications used to provide such content and information, is proprietary to weninchina (unless otherwise noted.) The user agrees not to otherwise modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, create derivative works from, transfer, sell, or re-sell any information, software, products, or services obtained from or through this website.

Any unauthorized use or copying of website content, or use of website content which breaches these terms and conditions, or their spirit, may violate trademark, copyright, and other proprietary rights, and civil and criminal statutes. Users shall not use any website content, or any other content made available through this website, in any manner that infringes any trademark, copyright or other proprietary rights. weninchina reserves all rights with respect to such unauthorized use or breach of these terms and conditions.

12. TRADEMARKS

"weninchina", "weninchina.com", and its logo are trademarks owned by D. Scott Norris. All trademarks, logos, website addresses, product or model names, or derivations that describe weninchina or content that contains the word "weninchina" that are included in website content are trademarks and/or the property of weninchina. Any list of "weninchina" or other trademarks on this website is periodically updated but shall not be taken as an all-inclusive list of weninchina or other trademarks.

Any use of weninchina’s trademarks or permutations thereof except as expressly authorized by weninchina in writing is strictly prohibited.

Other product and company names mentioned in this website may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

13. PRIVACY POLICY AND HANDLING OF USERS' DATA

This privacy policy describes what personal information we collect and how we use it.

Your personal information is not required to visit weninchina.com.

Please note that weninchina may have financial relationships with some of the providers and merchants mentioned on this site, and if so, we will clearly state any such relationships. weninchina.com may be compensated if consumers choose to utilize the links located throughout the content on this site and generate sales for the said merchant or service provider. weninchina.com is compensated for certain paid links and advertisements on this blog. You are not obligated to click on any link or buy any products that are advertised.

Per FTC guidelines, this website may be compensated by companies mentioned through advertising, affiliate programs, or otherwise. Any references to third party products, rates, or websites are subject to change without notice. Please do the appropriate research before participating in any third party offers.

Routine Information Collection

weninchina.com is run on Squarespace servers. All web servers track basic information about their visitors. This information includes, but is not limited to, IP addresses, browser details, timestamps and referring pages. None of this information can personally identify specific visitors to this site. The information is tracked by Squarespace for routine administration and maintenance purposes. Moreover, the operators of weninchina do not store, manipulate, or have access to this technical data.

Squarespace uses cookies to store information about a visitor’s preferences and history in order to better serve the visitor and/or present the visitor with customized content. To learn more, visit Squarespace's cookie policy by clicking on this link. Advertising partners and other third parties may also use cookies, scripts and/or web beacons to track visitors to our site in order to display advertisements and other useful information. Such tracking is done directly by the third parties through their own servers and is subject to their own privacy policies.

Controlling Your Privacy

Note that you can change your browser settings to disable cookies if you have privacy concerns. Disabling cookies for all sites is not recommended as it may interfere with your use of some sites. The best option is to disable or enable cookies on a per-site basis. Consult your browser documentation for instructions on how to block cookies and other tracking mechanisms.

Special Note About Google Advertising

Any advertisements served by Google, Inc., and affiliated companies may be controlled using cookies. These cookies allow Google to display ads based on your visits to this site and other sites that use Google advertising services. Learn how to opt out of Google’s cookie usage. As mentioned above, any tracking done by Google through cookies and other mechanisms is subject to Google’s own privacy policies.

Unsubscribe or Opt-Out

At this time, weninchina does not have an outbound email or newsletter program; therefore we do not have any activities where a visitor could "unsubscribe" from. If you wish to unsubscribe or opt-out from any third party websites, you must go to that specific website to unsubscribe and/or opt-out.

Links to Other Web Sites

Our website does contain links to affiliate and other websites. weninchina.com does not claim nor accept responsibility for any privacy policies, practices and/or procedures of other such websites. Therefore, we encourage all users and visitors to be aware when they leave our website and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information. The aforementioned Privacy Policy agreement applies only and solely to the information collected by our website.

About-Privacy