More than 90 Chinese youngsters, accompanied by their adoptive families from the United States, began an exploration tour in Beijing on Tuesday to locate their birthplaces.

Wearing T-shirts with giant panda and bamboo cartoon images, most of them were returning to China for the first time.

In coming days, they will review their adoption files, take traditional Chinese cultural classes, return to the orphanages where they lived before being adopted and travel to tourist destinations, including Chengdu in Sichuan province.

The heritage tours have been organized by the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption since 2006. They are aimed at helping Chinese adoptees living overseas to understand how they were adopted, recapture their childhood, and learn more about traditional Chinese culture.

More than 4,000 Chinese adoptees have been invited to visit the country since 2006.

Li Liguo, the minister of civil affairs, said in a welcoming speech that the Chinese government pays great attention to children's interests and rights, and has sought the most suitable adoptive families worldwide for Chinese orphans.

"Adoptions are not the end of our work, but an extension of it," Li said. "We are pleased to see the children are happy and healthy, and we want to express our gratitude to the adoptive parents."

The United States tops the list of countries where Chinese orphans have been adopted. Julie Kavanagh, minister counselor at the US embassy in Beijing, said more than 90,000 Chinese children have been adopted by US families since 1979.

Susan Dixon, a 62-year-old from Chicago, said her daughter Sara was only 14 months old when she adopted her in Chongqing.

"I decided a long time ago to adopt when I was doing some orphanage work in the late 1990s in Jiangxi province. My grandmother was adopted and her name was also Sara," Dixon said. "Once I heard from China, my heart was here. I knew I had to come here....

"The process was very smooth, especially on the Chinese side. The paperwork was really detailed, but was necessary.

"I got my referral about a month before I received permission to travel, and that was when I saw the first picture of my daughter.

"I went to Hong Kong for a week before I came here for the adoption. I just couldn't stay in the United States anymore. I had to get closer."

suzhou@chinadaily.com.cn