Too much to do, too little time

What a crazy day. We met our group at 8am, and proceeded to the Forbidden City. It supposedly has 9999 rooms. It is enormous, to say the least. I felt like we saw 9998 of them, it was so large. It was one of the Emperor’s residences, and where he conducted most of his business, including his business with his concubines! We walked through the entire city, beginning at the back, and ended up at the front gate, which faces Tiananmen Square. It was very surreal to be there, knowing what happened in the early 90’s. Lunch was at a local restaurant, followed by a stop at the Temple of Heaven, where the Emperor worshipped the God’s twice a year. Next was a stop at a Silk Factory, which was basically an assembly line for tourist shopping. I, of course, fell prey to the sales pressure and purchased some silk linens. After this outing, we saw an incredible Acrobatic Show. The performers were amazing, and very young.

Hannah did amazingly well, considering how long our day was, and also considering the fact that she has been up since 3:30am. Her little body clock is completely off. She also isn’t too fond of the food. It is delicious, but not what she’s used to. Although she does well at breakfast, she basically did not eat lunch or dinner today. Plan B – a local market where I can buy more familiar food for her. She was exhausted after the acrobatic show, so we skipped dinner, and are planning on an early night ourselves.