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Friday, February 20, 2015

Happy Chinese New Year!

Today was Chinese New Year. My family celebrates this holiday as a way to honor the culture of my 2 daughters heritage. For those of you who do not know, I adopted my daughters from China in 1996 and in 2001. Today, we prepared Chinese stir fry for dinner. I also got out some of my special Chinese dolls and photographed them for the occasion. 

I traveled to China in 1997 to adopt my oldest daughter (Alyssa LiLan). She was from the Jiangxi Province. The Provincial Government gave all families adopting a commemorative plate. The single moms (I adopted as a single) were given a plate with a lady on it and the 2 parent families were given a plate with a view of a Bridge. The plate I received is in the center of the picture below. I purchased the Cloissoine teas sets in 2001 when I adopted my second daughter (Hannah KunRong).



Also while in China I purchased some Chinese gift dolls for them.


The doll in the middle is a Chinese actress doll that I purchase in 1997 when I adopted my oldest daughter. The Chinese officials all thought that she was so beautiful that she would be an actress! The other 2 dolls I bought in 2001 when I went to China to get my youngest daughter. I bought 1 doll for each daughter to have.



When I went to China in 2001 to adopt my youngest daughter, she was from the Yunnan Province. There are 56 minority groups in China, 26 of which reside in Yunnan. I wanted to bring all 26 dolls home, but could not find them all, but did bring these 2 minority dolls home with me.

I wanted my daughters to have dolls that looked like them to play with, so I was in search of Asian dolls. I have purchased many Asian dolls play line dolls, but today, I am focusing on the Chinese dolls I purchased for my collection. These dolls have been kept in their original clothing and bodies and are kept in my glass case where I keep my collector dolls.



The first up is a Yu Sai Wa Wa Chinese Princess doll, the center doll is an American Girl Girls of Many Lands Spring Pearl doll, and the last doll is a Yu Sai Wa Wa Long and Lovely doll. Yue Sai Wa Wa was developed by Yue Sai Kan so that Asian girls could have Asian dolls. I purchased mine from a Chinese import company called China Sprout. These dolls are now popular and available world wide from Amazon and can also be found on QVC and eBay. 



Now for some Chinese Barbie dolls. 1st is the 1998 Golden Qi-Pao Barbie, next is 2004 Silkstone Barbie Chinoiserie Red Moon, 3rd is 2005 Chinese New Year Barbie. The fan in the background I purchased in China in 2001.



These are all Barbie Chinese Princess and DOTW dolls. The first one is 1997 Chinese Empress Barbie, next is 2001 Princess of China and 3rd is 1994 Chinese Barbie doll.


I hope you have enjoyed my Chinese New Year presentation of doll! Here is wishing you all a Happy Chinese New Year. Gung Hay Fat Choi!

37 comments:

  1. Your dolls are lovely! That is awesome that you have a collection of Asian dolls. I love them as well. Chinese Barbie was one of the dolls that I purchased in the early stages of collecting. Both Yu Sai Wa Wa dolls are lovely, but the one in the light pink with the long braid is absolutely gorgeous!! She has such a pretty face. Happy Chinese New Year!

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    1. I am so happy that you enjoyed them! I also love the Yu Sai Wa Wa dolls and have others as well. The "Long and Lovely" doll with the pink dress and long braid is also one of my favorites. I also love the quality of the clothes that each doll comes with. They are all very nice even on their play line dolls.

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    2. Tell me long braid doll nane and brand

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  2. I really love all your dolls! I have a few of them too. I have never seen the AG Girls of Many Lands before. She is very pretty. How tall is she?

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    1. There are 8 of them, but this is the only one I have. She is 9.5" tall. You can get them on Ebay usually for around $25 to $35 ea. plus shipping.

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  3. I love your Asian dolls-they are all so pretty, I'm not even sure which one I like the best! I really like 2004 RedMoon, but all of the Barbie ones are really nice. The outfits on all of them are amazing. The very first one you bought in China is beautiful! I love that you have these wonderful dolls to serve as such great memories of when you adopted your daughters and met them for the first time. For a little while, I was very interested in adopting a baby from China as well and I can imagine what an exciting and special time that must have been. Hugs to you and your lovely daughters and happy Chinese New Year! I'm sure the probably really love seeing your collection. :)

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    1. The adoptions of my daughters were the BEST times of my life! They changed my life in so many positive ways. As you know, loving your child is the best feeling in the world and, for me, when I first saw each of them -- well the feeling was so incredible, even thinking about it now sends chills through my body. I do love these dolls too. They are beautiful representations of Asian women. I actually have several more from other Asian backgrounds like, Japan, Thailand, Korea and so on. I love seeing the traditional dresses from each of these. When I was in China, I purchased dresses of various sizes for my girls to wear on CNY. They even wore them to school where is put together a Chinese New Year celebration for each of there grade levels in elementary. It was great! I am glad you like my dolls. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I always enjoy hearing from you!

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  4. Hi Phyllis, thanks for sharing the beautiful story of how you adopted your daughters and kept them connected with their cultural heritage. Your dolls are beautiful. I took your advice and bought some outfits for my Yue Sai doll from China Sprout. Wishing you a fruitful year of the ram!

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    1. I am happy that you found some outfits for your dolls on China Sprout. I have purchased many things from that site including books, dolls, clothing, Christmas decorations and decor. It has been a great way to help us celebrate their Chinese heritage.

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  5. Happy New Year! This is a lovely collection - and thanks for sharing your family's story.

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    1. Thanks! I am happy that you enjoyed our story and the dolls!

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  6. Beautiful collection and beautiful story about your daughters! You know I love Asian dolls, so this was a real treat. I immediately fell in love with the American Girl doll and hopped over to ebay and bought her and the one from England. So underneath my breath I am having a few choice words with you! In order to keep to my 10 doll limit this year, I may have to consider kid dolls as 1/2 doll. That might help.

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    1. Oh, I like that idea, Vanessa, counting kid dolls as 1/2. It certainly works for me! I am glad that you enjoyed my dolls and my story. I enjoy telling it as it brings back such wonderful memories.

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  7. Hi Phyllis, this collection is impressive, I was in China two years ago, and there are so many beautiful things and such a rich culturale heritage. I think it is a great thing to help your daughters to keep in touch with the tradition of their place of birth!
    Kisses Billa

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    1. Yes, there are so many beautiful things in China and I love shopping there. The first time, I had to buy an extra suitcase to bring back the stuff I purchased. I hope to take my daughters back someday!

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  8. What a beautiful collection and a great way to celebrate the chinese heritage of your daughters. I had never heard of the Yu Sai Wa Wa dolls before to thank you for the introduction.

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    1. Thanks you! The Yu Sai Wa Wa dolls are just beautiful and their clothes are well made. They also have a Kelly sized doll called Yen Sai Wa Wa. I think China Sprout is the best source for them.

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  9. Wonderful post! I love seeing all these and saw a few of them at the doll show today. I even have a Yu Sai Wa Wa doll, but she is the Thai Dancer.

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    1. I am glad you enjoyed the post. I will have to take pictures of the rest of my Asian dolls soon.

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  10. Hello from Spain: Happy New Year. Nice collection of dolls. Keep in touch

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    1. Thank you, Marta. I am happy you enjoyed this post.

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  11. Cool collection of dolls, Phyllis! I love how you have arranged them - the doll groupings as wel as the different backdrops.

    I have a Yu Sai Wa Wa doll. Chinasprout also produced their own Chinese fashion doll, Mei Ling. She is sold in 3 outfits.

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    1. Thanks! I also have a Mei Ling doll from China Sprout. I rebodied her on a Liv body to give her articulation and she is in one of my Chinese families.

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    2. Neat! Bet she's happier now ;-)

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  12. I realy like your chinese collection !

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    1. Thanks! I am glad that you like them. Isn't their costuming beautiful?

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  13. What a wonderful collection of dolls. And the fact they are Asian makes them that much more special because we don't see them often. It makes sense that there would be Chinese Barbies, but never having seen one, yours caught me off guard. They are so beautifully dressed!

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    1. Thanks, April! I actually have a quite a few more Asian dolls including Asian baby dolls that my daughters played with when they were little. I also love the Chinese clothes that they are wearing.

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  14. Nice to know you have 2 chinese daughters adopted,lucky girls 😆
    i would love to have a chinese Barbie,thanks for share your beautiful dolls
    xx

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    1. Thanks, but I think I am the lucky one to get to be their mom! I am glad that you like my dolls.

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  15. Phyllis, you have such a wonderful and lovely collection! I think I'm going to need to look into these Yu Sai Wa Wa dolls. :)
    Xīnnián kuàilè! I hope the goat treats you all very well :)

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    1. Thanks! I hope you do buy some Yu Sai Wa Wa dolls. They are such beauties!

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  16. I love the Chinese new year Barbie (Festivals of the world) and princess of China. Have u got this doll yet? http://barbie.wikia.com/wiki/China_Barbie_Doll

    and Happy Chinese New Year

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  17. Nice post. 24ent a Social Media App for Beauty for enjoying and sharing beauty related posts online.

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  18. I found this post when I was searching for Yusai Wawa. I just want to say the Chinese actress doll you purchased when you adopted your older daughter is so beautiful and meticulous! The doll must a miniature of the character Daiyu Lin in the classic TV series The Dream of Red Chamber. It's such a special doll and I love it!

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    1. This actress doll is also so well made that it reflects the classic pose to the very detail. Next time when I travel to China I'll try to find one just like this. Hope this exquisiteness of workmanship still exists!

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