What a day! Yesterday we took our tour out to Summer Palace and to the Great Wall. The Summer Palace was amazing and the Lake and architecture were both breathtaking. We then left there and headed out to the "Jade Factory" where we thought we were going to see how they made jade. Actually, the jade was already made and it became quite obvious that we were expected to buy it. It felt like a time-share presentation I had paid to attend! We had a serious talk with our guide about how many more stops like this were scheduled into the day. She told us that we would be going to the silk factory and then to the dish factory. Long story short, we escalated the matter to her manager's manager and negotiated to skip lunch and all the rest of the "factory tours." LOL!
It was surreal to be on the Great Wall with Andrea and Connor. The section of the wall we went to is one of the most frequently visited sections (Badaling). We opted to take the Gondola up the side of the mountain and Connor loved everything about being there. He has been talking about the Great Wall forever and had lots of questions for the guide. There are only a few things that could have really tainted the experience during our visit. No, nobody fell of the wall or broke an ankle…..we ran into a guy wearing a Utah Utes (our rival) T-shirt! Argh!! So we had to take a picture with him…..they were a nice family visiting from Park City, Utah.
We have been following closely the plight of several families who are here to pick up their children who have been quarantined by the government. One family had made it to Beijing and were enjoying their hotel only to find out later that a person 2 rows back from them on the flight had been diagnosed with H1N1. They had to be quarantined, the dad got the flu, and the entire family is forced to stay in a low level hotel/hospital with limited food and clean water. We are just sick for them and know we could have easily been in the same situation. Here is part of what the official travel advisory reads:
"In some instances, children have been separated from their parents because either the parent or the child tested positive for 2009-H1N1 and was placed in quarantine for treatment. This situation presents the possibility of Chinese medical personnel administering medications to minors without first having consulted their parents.
P.S. Blogger is blocked here is China, so we can't view our blog or comments. All of our posts are sent by email. Sorry if you have written a question and we have not gotten back to you. :) You can always email us.
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