OH MY. Again. WHAT. A. DAY. Way too tired to deal with photos. Will load them later. Sorry.
I don't know who this day was planned for but NOT 10 year olds.
Breakfast, Opening Ceremony, Culture lecture, banquet lunch, National Grand Theatre, Palace Museum, Tiananmen Square, Climb the Tiananmen gate, Forbidden City, Peking Roast Duck Dinner, night walking Street.
Culture lecture felt more like a test, not geared to kids at all. Walked around the outside of the theater in the heat (because kids love architecture), had the museum pointed out to us across a street, walked at a crazy fast pace all over Tiananmen Square (because everyone loves walking on hot pavement for hours to look at cement) finally make it to the Forbidden City only to find out it's just more freakin' pavement that is endless. Dinner was great and the walking street would have been more fun if we had more than a half hour. I appreciate what the COEC is doing here and we are totally appreciative of the opportunity to be a part of this. But really?! It's about the kids. Why not drive them past the cement monuments take them to a park where the real China is playing out and get them an ice cream and let them rest for a few minutes in some shade. Cripes. I had a breaking moment in the Forbidden City, we were shown to a bathroom, told we had 10 minutes. There are a few Dads here but the bulk of the 95 is Moms and girls. Just can't happen in 10 minutes. Anyways, there was air conditioning in a sitting room next to the bathroom and there was no smell so it was all good, a few of us were standing in the room relishing the cool and our guide came to get us, stood us in the middle of the first courtyard of the Forbidden City and left us just standing in the blazing sun while he told us about the concubines. Once we hit the third courtyard I asked Lili if there was anything she wanted to see and nope...turns out that kind of heat on cement just isn't interesting. Period. We demanded instructions to the north gate and left with one of the Dads. We sat outside the gate in the shade with a cold pop and just waited for the group. We saw an ambulance come out and it turned out to be one of the Mom's we just met last night (the other Lili's Mom) she collapsed in the Forbidden City, arms, hands swollen, shaking like a seizure. There were two nurses in our group there to help. My fear of coming to China alone with Lili was that I'd be down and she'd be on her own and there it was happening.
There was a Govt. official spending the day with us, he went to the hospital with her. We found out later that he wants things to be different tomorrow. Not so hard, not so hot. So we're having a schedule change. Not sure what will come out of the plan but they added an hour and a half at the Pearl Market. So, huge sigh of relief that tomorrow will be better. We didn't get back here until 10. Wake up call was a 7. How is that day planned to make kids appreciate Chinese Culture?!
We didn't take many pics. Too hot to bother. Lili smiled when I asked her too. She's such a trooper. She isn't complaining but is worried health wise about everything, me, the other Mom that went down. She said " I feel bad about her, but if she didn't have heat stroke we wouldn't be getting a break tomorrow".
Lili here: Hot and tired. Had a cold bath, didn't help much. We walked for hours and hours today. Left the hotel at 12:30 and didn't get to dinner until 7. Walked all between those times!
