Well as most of my China-based readers know, there will be an eclipse tomorrow morning between 8:30 and 9:30 local time. The local news this evening reminded people not to gaze directly into an eclipse without protective goggles. They should have also mentioned that it probably wouldn’t be the best time to test the salesperson’s claims regarding the UV protection on your almost-but-not-quite ray bans you bought at the Silk Market.
Frankly, I’m not sure if anyone in Beijing will really notice the sun being out of commission for a few minutes. First of all, the capital is a little too far north to get the full monty, and besides let’s be real, the sun in the Beijing sky gets blacked out more often than a Chinese official on a three-day KTV bender delegation visit.
But to honor the occasion nonetheless, I meandered down to the smog-choked southwestern corner of the Jianguomen traffic cruller where a lonely tower stands, crowned with instruments of sky gazers past — Beijing’s ancient observatory.
On the plus side, it’s one of those attractions — increasingly rare in China — that doesn’t get its fully complement of screeching hat-wearing flag lemmings, I guess it’s