The Duffys' house on the west side of Vancouver has a red-painted door with two stone lions on each side. Inside are rooms decorated with cloisonne, paper-cut, wash paintings, a lion dance mask, embroidery and other examples of Chinese cultural heritage.

The Caucasian owners have arranged the surroundings for their daughters, Charlotte, 7, and Georgia, 5, to live in. Adopted from Chinese orphanages, the two girls have been part of Canadian society for years, but still retain a strong connection with the culture of their birth place.

"It's very important," adoptive mother Susan told Xinhua. "When they get to be adults, they will, may well question, why were they taken from their country of birth. And it's very important to make sure that we do absolutely everything to get that culture in their lives."

More Chinese than families of ethnic Chinese

When the Duffys decided to adopt a child, they found it was a "natural calling" for them to go to China. Part of the reason was that the couple worked in Canadian branches of HSBC, a banking group headquartered in London, where they had many Chinese-speaking colleagues and clients. Chinese culture was very much part of their lives and work, Susan said.

When 9-month-old Charlotte first came to this family in 2003, Susan, then 40, made a "wonderful sacrifice" by quitting her job with HSBC to ensure the little baby would be looked after in a stable and caring living environment.

Meanwhile, changes have been continuously rolling out to the interior style of the family home. Susan and her husband, Eamon, brought lots of decorations back to Vancouver from their two Chinese trips of adoption. They also like to go to Chinatown in Vancouver to buy furniture and other Chinese-style things.

Their collection is growing and everything is on display. To add to the family's Chinese style, Eamon artfully pasted Chinese wash paintings from used calendars on the doors of a cupboard.

Not surprisingly, when some of their friends of Chinese origin came to the house, they said "your house is more Chinese than mine," according to Susan. "Having lots of Chinese culture in our house is very important," she said. "We really do like all of the things we have that are Chinese."