Day Six

This was a difficult day for our family. My husband was ill during the night, probably from something he ate at the closing banquet. He was still unwell in the morning but we are checking the luggage to be left in Beijing and not returning to the hotel until the end of the trip.
Before heading to the train station we visited The Great Wall. My husband rested on the bus and my girls and I went to check it out. I didn't get very far as the steps are steep and it's quite the hike up to the top. My girls both managed it and were extremely proud of themselves!

My two girls at the top of the Great Wall!
The view from above through the smog
We had a quick tour of the cloisonne factory; we literally walked through on our way to the restaurant for lunch. They served the most unusual dish so far-a prepared fish with its' head and tail still on. No one was feeling up to the challenge so the dish went untasted. After lunch we had a few moments to shop and then we were off to the train station.
The train station experience was, for me at least, the lowest point of the trip. The station was incredibly crowded and we did not have tickets.


The Chinese tourism board had arranged for the cultural festival to travel on a special sleeping train that was not scheduled so what would have been a 6 hour train ride expanded into 15 hours as it had to stop for long periods of time to allow the scheduled trains to pass. There was a lot of confusion as to what cars our group was to travel in and the cars themselves were enclosed. My claustraphobia kicked in and I had to get off the car. A kindhearted woman who was traveling with us gave me something to calm me and our studio director moved me to another car that was more open. I managed to sleep most of the night as did my husband who was still recovering.
My oldest daughter loved the train trip, however. She said it was like a big sleepover!