My Eclipse Plan to China in 2009
We have booked on Sinoway Travel tour “SWEclipse03” – one of four Eclipse tours which is highly recommended by the tour consultant at Sinoway Travel. Considering it is the fisrt time to visit China, we would like to cover the highlights of China except the amazing solar eclipse. We were recommended to visit Beijing, Xian, Shanghai and Suzhou, Hangzhou city.
We will be arriving in Beijing on 13 July, 9 days before the Solar Eclipse day.
Between 13th July to 16th July, we will be staying in Beijing at Guangzhou Hotel. In Beijing, our proposal covers all of the city highlights, the largest and most complete imperial palace — Forbidden City, TianAnMen Square which is the biggest public square in the world, Temple of Heaven and Great Wall. We also will not miss the Hutong tour and Olympic Stadium (Bird Nest).
On 16th July, we will leave for Xian for 2 nights. In Xian, we will be able to say hello the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses. And we will stay in Bell Tower Hotel which is near the Bell Tower.
We will leave for Shanghai on 18th July, of course, visit the Bund amongst other Shanghai highlights before taking the train to Hangzhou on 20th, July. In Hangzhou, we intend to visit the West Lake and surrounding areas. The West Lake is reputated to be one of the most beautiful lakes in China.
Eclipse Day — 22th, July
For eclipse day itself, we will be at the Qiatang River Bore. The duration of totality, commencing at 09:34, at Qiatang is expected to be 5 minutes 40 seconds in duration. The Tidal Bore Viewing Area is around 90 minutes from Hangzhou itself and the eclipse itself will end at around 11:00.
It is expected that there will be an impressive tidal bore which is often several meters high and we hope this will be an excellent ending to the longest eclipse in over a century.
After the eclipse, we will head to Suzhou, which is known as one of the major silk producing areas of China. Suzhou has been at the centre of Chinese Silk production for 2,500 years. We will visit the Suzhou Silk Museum. We also expect to visit a Silk Factory to see the Silk Production process.
After Suzhou, we will spend one nights in Shanghai. We will travel to Shanghai by train.
We will fly back sweet home on 24th, July.
