Ten years ago, nine Chinese toddlers left their hometown in the arms of their adoptive American parents.

On Saturday, four of the nine girls were back in Hangzhou for their first visit since, hanging on to their parents' hands, their accents attracting a lot of attention.

For the girls it was a voyage of discovery, for the parents it was a chance to rekindle fond memories in the capital of East China's Zhejiang Province.

Sharon Pitman recollects the moment she received a photograph of a baby in the US.

"It was incredible. Her photo looked like the photo of my mother as a baby. I immediately realized my life was connected to some place far away. It was destiny!"

After a few months of anxious waiting, she travelled with the eight other families to Hangzhou where she saw Emily for the first time.

"When people put the baby in my arms, the four-month-old smiled at me, as if saying: 'Well, you're finally here!' I cried" Pitman recalled.

Vicki Guist, a resident of Denver, Colorado has kept her daughter's baby photo in her wallet for a decade.

"We got a tiny one from the agency at the beginning, so I developed it into a bigger size then show it to everyone we know."

The four girls Emily, Neely, Kira and Kiana are all 10 years old and have the same Chinese surname "Ni" given by the Yiwu Orphanage, located in Yiwu. They are due to visit the orphanage today.

Despite Emily's shock at the sight of a squat toilet, Chinese culture is a way of life for the kids in the United States.

Kira's mother, Kathy Krupa, said that they celebrate Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival every year, and even have dragon boat races with other families who have adopted Chinese girls.

They send their children to study the Chinese language and calligraphy courses during the summer vacation.

In 2003, Americans adopted nearly 7,000 children from China, at the average age of 11 months. Over 95 percent were girls.

(China Daily November 21, 2005)