Tiennamen Square and the Forbidden City

After posting to my blog, I worked on my inbox, which was really big. I also emailed test messages to the two Chinese ladies from the cruise ship. Then we went to bed.
Sunday
I woke up early in a sweat. The comforter was too much. I needed just a sheet. I got my black and white wrap, which was just the right thickness. We stayed in bed until 7:15. I got up first to use the bathrrom. The toilet is high-tech. Lift the lid and the lights come on, a fan comes on, the seat heats up, like it's happy to see me. And automatically flushes. Chris took a shower while I washed up and got dressed.
Because he had the cheesecake from last night to eat, I went to breakfast alone. I stopped at the front desk to request a sheet for my bed. But they did not understand. So I said 'thin blanket'. They looked it up, and discussed among themselves, then said that Housekeeping would take care of it when they clean our room.
I entered the restaurant. The waitress led me past Michele and Marie (who asked where Chris was) to a small table in the back. I went to the buffet and filled my plate with fruit chunks plus an apple and an orange.

As I ate, other couples from our group sat near me and we conversed. On the way out, I took another apple and got a glass of apple juice. The hostess would not let me take the glass, so she poured the juice into a paper cup. I took the food back to the room. Michele was there with Chris, playing on my tablet. Chris locked the apples and tablet and laptop in the safe. I put some chocolates and seed crackers in my purse. I wrapped up one chocolate for Shirley. Then we went downstairs to find our bus. When the last two people arrived, we were on our way to Tienneman square – an hour or less away.
We alighted from the bus into a crowd of people. We walked, and paused as the guide told us about the history. (We did a lot of pausing to listen during the day). There was an underground passage leading across the street to the square. There were security guards there, but they were not searching anybody. We were told not to take pictures of guards, but I did not see many. The square covers 109 acres. At one end is Mao's mausoleum. I wanted to see it, but it was closed. On the sides were the national history museum and the great hall of the people. We had free time to take pictures, but did not need 20 minutes just for that. Then we went to the far end, where a painting of Mao hung on a brick wall and looked over the square. We used the restrooms there, then entered the first courtyard of the Forbidden City. It certainly wasn't forbidden today because the crowds were swarming all over it. It used to be just for the emperor; common people could not enter it. The security was tighter here and our handbags were scanned.

The city was a big complex. I think he said 9999 rooms. Only a third is open to the public so far. The place looked just like it did in The Last Emperor. The guide led us through the parts he thought we should see most. One place had windows so you could see how the empress lived. But it was hard to take pics because of all the people. I ate my seed crackers there, and reminded Shirley to eat the chocolate before it melted. It had already gotten very soft. My camera battery died, so Chris gave me his. But it died, too, before we left the city. Ann and Shirley were in wheelchairs because of all the walking, and the heat. Ann had had enough, so James told her chair pusher to go to the far end and wait. But he spoke no English and she was alone with him in a crowd of people who spoke no English. When we arrived, she was not happy. So Chris held her hand from then on.
We left the city and went down a street to where the bus could meet us. The bus took us to a restaurant called Hua's. It was from the same chain as the one last night. We walked in the front door, past tables, and the kitchen, and out the back door. ??? But there was a long narrow building, like a row of storage units, each one just right for a round table of 10. So our group divided, and occupied three rooms.

We were offered one beverage each, and water counted as one. Then a large bowl of rice was placed on the central rotating circle. We each took some rice, then conversed for a long time, long enough to wonder if we had been forgotten. But no, the restaurant was just especially busy because of the Dragon Boat Festival, which I don't think we are going to see.
More dishes came. I told James not to order the chicken for me if it was full of bone fragments. When my dish came, there were no bones. I tried a taste of each dish on the table, and at my dish of chicken, celery and spinach.
After lunch, we went back to the hotel. Chris stayed in the lobby to get our passports back. I went up to the room to check my e-mail and recharge the cameras. I fell asleep listening to a tapping audio on my tablet.
At 5, Cecily knocked on our door to say they were going to the bar for drinks and would be there until suppertime. We declined to go along. Chris read e-mail on the laptop while I read e-mail on the tablet until it needed charging too. Then I wrote notes for my blog in a notebook.
I changed into a dinner outfit. I put Chris' camera in my purse. We went downstairs to meet with our group. James put us all in the care of another guide named Tingting. She led us to a bus, which we boarded, and were off to another version of the same restaurant; Hua's.
This time we went up to the third floor. Ann held Chris' hand going up the two escalators. I knew he liked older women. Should I be worried?

We were seated at another 10 person table. Dishes were placed on the center rotating circle. Tingting brought me a plate of gluten-free eggs, tomatoes, rice, and cauliflower. As before, I tasted the other dishes. Tingting told me which ones were gluten-free and I had more of those. The snow peas were excellent. For dessert there was watermelon, cantaloupe and cherry tomatoes.
She gave us a 10 minute warning and we used the restroom before gathering downstairs to head for the bus. The bus took us back to the hotel. It wasn't that far away.
Chris went up to the room to get the laptop on the internet for me. I walked up a grand staircase to the second floor to check out the fitness center. I was hoping they had a mini trampoline. It was a large place, with a big pool, a yoga room, and all kinds of weight machines. The lady at the desk showed me through the ladies locker room, also very big. It had a sauna, whirlpool/hot tub and a steamroom. I thanked her and left. I went back to the first floor. I spied the bar and thought Cecily might be there, so I walked in. But I did not see any Damours there. So I headed to the elevators. On the way, I saw the hallway to the department store. So I walked through and marveled at all the expensive jewelry and clothing. Then I went back, and joined Chris in our room. He turned over the laptop to me. I wrote up my blog post while he used my tablet.
We will probably go straight to bed because the bus leaves at 7am for the great wall. Stay tuned.