FROM OUR CHINA COORDINATOR, LIFENG:
COMMENTS ABOUT LIFENG FROM CRADLE FAMILIES
“Lifeng is about as professional as they come. He is prompt, courteous and knowledgeable. We could tell he worked diligently to prepare for each step or our process while we were in Beijing and Chongqing. Lifeng also appears to have a very favorable relationship with the government officials in Chongqing Adoption Affairs Office.
The Chinese Adoption Personnel appeared to enjoy working with him, and the adoption went very smoothly. Additionally, the other steps appeared seamless to us - which is a testament to Lifeng's hard work since he jumped through all the hoops for the Notary Office and the Passport Office. We had no involvement with these steps which meant he very successfully handled this for us. (This process had been changed since we were last in China in 2003, and we appreciated Lifeng's attention to these matters.)
Jeff and I both noted how Lifeng's English language skills improved significantly since our first visit with him during Sydney's adoption. Although his command of English was good in 2003, Lifeng is almost completely fluent in 2005!
While we were in Chongqing, Lifeng arranged a historical tour with us of U.S. General Stilwell's home (famous pre-WWII General who saved China from the Japanese). Lifeng took great care to research the history and make a short introductory statement as we arrived at the museum. He also arranged museum tours and accompanied us.
Our trips through the airports went without a hitch, and Lifeng managed to assist getting our overweight luggage through without additional cost.
There is no one we would rather be in China with - than Lifeng! Thank you for the opportunity to work with him.”
Thank you,
Lori & Jeff Petrie
We were expecting to have Anli (Lifeng's wife) as our guide. We were informed in our "Pre-travel Conference Call" that Anli couldn't be with us and that her husband, Lifeng was going to be taking care of us. Our initial reaction was that we were a little apprehensive, due to how many good things that we heard about Anli. Lifeng is an extremely professional guide. He made the travel in China, not only worry free but very enjoyable as well. He was a History major at Beijing University which made the sightseeing we did in Beijing educational. We both felt as though we were given a better insight into China's culture through the guidance of Lifeng. During the time we spent in Chengdu (the city where our child, Bailee was from), he took care of our every need. This particular Social Welfare Institute was not drawn from in the past, so Lifeng had never been there before. On top of that, the road that it was located on was under construction and therefore blocked off; for these reasons we could not find the building right away, but Lifeng was persistent in getting proper directions from the local citizens of the neighborhood and we were able to find the building. This was accomplished even though the local neighborhood residents spoke a different dialect than did Lifeng. Being "on time" is of utmost importance throughout the process in China; Lifeng showed a great amount of patience with our group's delays. We had no problems with our paperwork in Chengdu, but one of the other couples had a name that was spelled wrong in Chinese, Lifeng went through extraordinary efforts to straighten that out without delaying the rest of the group. In Guangzhou, he took care of all of the remaining details seamlessly. We didn't feel as though there were any problems with the entire process in China. Lifeng provided us with more wonderful memories of our experience in China than we could have ever anticipated; his smile is infectious and his professionalism is unmatched.
Sincerely,
Ken & Debbie Pfahl
Our trip to China was great with the help of Lifeng. Lifeng is very personable and organized; he helped tremendously with our appointments and paperwork. Our 10-year-old daughter traveled with us and Lifeng made sure to include her in all aspects of the trip including a visit to the local zoo. Thanks again to Lifeng for all of his help and support during our stay in China.
Gary Kelley
Lifeng orchestrated our trip from Beijing to Chongqing, where we picked up our girls, then to Guangzhou for our visas. Lifeng was conscientious and meticulous in his planning and was always concerned that we were as comfortable as possible and that our girls were comfortable and happy. He displayed patience and diligence in working through bureaucratic tangles and mix ups. When we got to our hotel in Chongqing, the hotel had lost our reservation. Lifeng worked out the problem and our accommodations were superb. When we presented our orphanage donation and the Chinese officials rejected some of our U.S. bills as being not-new, Lifeng worked out a deal to pay a portion of the donation in Chinese yuan. Lifeng arranged outings for us to see both the history and real life in China. He genuinely cared about our girls and wanted the best for them always. He was always reviewed the necessary paperwork with great care, which freed us to spend more time with our new twin daughters.
Bill and Katherine Welch