The longest complete solar eclipse in 500 years appeared today over the Yangtze River, China. Millions of Chinese observed this amazing event through out the day. The full solar blackout appeared at approximately 9:30 a.m. Beijing time. In many cities across China, the weather is clear enough to observe the complete duration of the solar eclipse. The total blackout lasted for about 5 minutes and 38 seconds. Many Chinese cities, such as Chongqing and Wuhan in west and central China, turned off many street lights to allow the public to better observe the total eclipse.
The July 22 eclipse is the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century. It passed across China from Tibet to the coastal city of Shanghai, where 300 million people live. Millions of eclipse-watchers thronged to the banks of the Yellow and Yangtze rivers in northwestern Lanzhou and central Wuhan cities early Wednesday to observe the spectacle.
China holds one of the world’s earliest celestial records of a solar eclipse. The ancient Shangshu, or Book of Documents, recorded a story of a solar eclipse from the Xia Dynasty (21st-16th centuries BC). Chinese emperors were known to take advice from astrologists when eclipses occurred.
In ancient China, people ran and banged basins or gongs in an attempt to scare away the “celestial dog,” which was believed to be an evil swallowing the sun.