Forget grey – on Friday, Beijing turns black!

So exciting!

I remember my first total solar eclipse. And no, it wasn’t the dawn of time, though it does certainly feel like it, being sooooo long ago. I think I was about six and I still remember it so vividly. We pulled the TV over to the window so we could see it safely on the screen and then quickly glance, with our sunnies on, up at the exact same phenomenon, right before our eyes, with mum bleating at us not to look into the sun’s rays.

How exciting that our own kids will get to see this amazing event, right here in BJ.

This eclipse will sweep over northern China this Friday 1 August, only a week before the Olympic Games opening ceremony. Some say this news has spooked the superstitious, but astrologers and feng shui experts have apparently allayed the fears of Chinese officials, insisting there is little to worry about.

I wonder if Beibei has anything to do with this (see Friendly Superstitious ). Fish? Sun? Parallels there? Maybe not.

Friday’s eclipse will extend over two hours, beginning in Canada then moving across northern Greenland, the Arctic, central Russia and Mongolia, before ending in northern China. Apparently, it won’t fall directly on Beijing, but it still promises to be a showstopper.

Grab your darkest sunglasses, and remember, tell the kiddies not to look into the sun’s rays!

To see a live webcast (if you’re superstitious and too afraid to go outside...) www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/2008/.

Tania McCartney