When I look back on my life; / years that have passed one by one,
I have to stop and ask myself... / just what could I have done?
What could I have done that was so special? / What did I do, I'd like to know.
What virtuous deed did I commit / that equals the privilege of watching you grow?
Several of the people in our group decided to climb up to the top by foot. Rob and I had both wanted to do it, but Corinne couldn't possibly make it with her asthma, since climbing stairs, more than just about anything else, really brings it on. I talked her into going up to the top in the cable car with me and Rob took the video camera and made for the stairs. We would meet either at the top, or down below at the bus.
The cable car was great. We had a tremendous view and when we got off, had only a few flights of stairs to climb to get to the top. Corinne did have to use one of her puffers, but then we found a step to sit on to rest for a while. Members of our travel group kept going by. The ones with older children had to keep stopping and letting Chinese people take pictures of the children with themselves standing beside them. It was really funny to see this, especially since my friend had told me to expect that before we went. She said that when she lived in Hong Kong for five years, people wanted to have their pictures taken with her all the time. Even though she was Chinese, she was bigger than most of the people in Hong Kong and she lived in Canada, so she was still unique. The kids were very good-natured about it and didn't seem to mind all the attention.
Stupidly, neither Corinne nor I had anyone take our pictures on the Wall. (Luckily, the videographer in our group took a brief shot of us sitting there, waving at everyone who went by and incorporated it into the video he made for our travel group. We didn't know this at the time, however, so it was a huge oversight on our part.)
Finally, our time at the Wall ended. We took the cable car back down and Rob joined us about twenty minutes later. He'd walked about halfway up, filmed a lot and then walked back down. He bargained at the souvenir kiosks and had bought ten Great Wall baseball caps for about 100 yuan. They would make good gifts for several people at home. The bus wouldn't start after everyone had gathered, so we had to get off and the men all pushed it. The bus driver popped the clutch and the engine caught. Even the air conditioner worked again. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped for dinner at nice restaurant and had the usual dishes on the Lazy Susan. By this time, I was feeling queasy again and couldn't eat much. I was also tired and worried about Faith, so I was very much looking forward to getting back to the hotel. She was sleeping when we arrived, but woke up when we were standing around the crib watching her and asking the babysitter through Yufen, about her day. She said Faith had cried for about half an hour after we left, but then she'd settled down and had eaten congee and crackers and had had several cups of mixture. We paid the lady and she left. Faith was happy to see us and sat on daddy's lap for a long time, playing with her stacking cups. We thought we could already see a difference in her strength-- she seemed to be able to support her upper body and head for longer periods of time while sitting up. It was good to be back with her and good to know that she had missed us. We went to bed as early as we could, after watching some television.
October 13: This day we travelled to the Silk Store, which had stunningly beautiful art work, jewellery and clothing. The prices were set, since it was a government store, and there was no bargaining, but you still got very good value for your money. We bought some tee-shirts for Matthew and four silk screens, depicting the different seasons with various kinds of birds and flowers. The bathrooms in this store were Western style-- the only Western-style plumbing I saw outside of the hotels and the restaurant in Shanghai. When we got back on the bus, the peddlars were crowding over the walls separating the store parking lot from the sidewalks and encouraging us to check out their merchandise. Apparently, they are not allowed to go on the store property. Rob and I ended up buying two Rolex watch knock-offs for about 80 yuan. Our friend Ron did the actual bargaining-- he was definitely the "bargainator."
Next stop was the Temple of Heaven-- a huge and beautiful park-like setting, with ancient statues of different Chinese zodiac animals. The tilework of the buildings was incredible-- vivid turquoises, blues and greens. One of the guidebooks said: "The Temple of Heaven, founded in the first half of the 15th Century, is a dignified complex of fine buildings set in gardens and surrounded by historic pine woods. In its overall layout and its individual buildings, it symbolizes the relationship between earth and heaven...." Faith was in her Piggyback Stroller backpack the entire time and was very happy.
