Skip to content
  • Epic Quest
  • Contact Me!
  • About Me
Instagram YouTube Facebook
Menu

Writer. Traveler. Tea Drinker.

Writer. Traveler. Tea Drinker. Doing all three in China
Instagram YouTube Facebook
  • Epic Quest
  • Contact Me!
  • About Me
Hit enter to search or esc to close
Home  >  China • Traveling  >  The Dragon in the Solar Eclipse
Posted inChina Traveling

The Dragon in the Solar Eclipse

Posted By Becky Ances Posted on June 22, 2020
Please install Travelera Share Buttons plugin

I remember my first solar eclipse when I was quite young. I was in elementary school and it was a big deal. I remember our teachers talking about it for days ahead of time and we all made little DIY devices (like pinholes through cardboard) to look at it. It happened during school hours and I remembered us kids pressed up against the giant plate glass windows in school, our papers and cardboard boxes held out in front of us, cheering as the sun slowly got covered up by the moon, amazed by the coolness of it all.

I didn’t get very good pics so I stole some from my friends Wechat. This is one that shows it really nicely.

I was also jealous when last year all my friends in America got to see the solar eclipse and I didn’t. (And I laughed with the rest of the world as dumb Trump kept looking directly into the sun without glasses. Even as an elementary school student I knew it was a stupid thing to do, and yet the president didn’t?!)

But finally, yesterday June 21st, it was MY turn to see a solar eclipse. And I didn’t have just a glimpse, but the best seats in town. The perfect viewing place was Xiamen which would have the best view of the full solar eclipse, while other parts of China only got a partial.

My friend was downtown Xiamen and snapped this pic of everyone waiting for the eclipse. As we were one of the best cities in the country to watch it from, I think the celestial event attracted people to Xiamen.

My friend got us all glasses, and while there wasn’t the same sort of excited buildup of my youth, it was still pretty cool. While downtown Xiamen was packed with spectators and photographers, my school is still empty of students so a few of us foreign teachers went to the empty basketball court area (no trees to block our view) to watch the eclipse. Xiamen is the best! Brag, brag, brag.

It was really hot out, so I only went out for a few minutes around the peak of it. I ran into a few of my co-workers who had the same idea.

I should mention the “real-feel” temp was about 108 degrees F so I didn’t want to hang around outside for very long. As soon as I stepped outside I knew something was up. If I looked into the sky, the sun seemed the same as normal (too bright to see details) but the world was covered in a sort of weird muted light. Like the eye of a hurricane or something. It was an eerie kind of darkness and even tricked some of the birds to begin their evening calls, even though it was only 4pm.

I don’t have a fancy camera, but I held up my glasses in front of my iphone lens and tried to take a few pics. I couldn’t really see what what happening, and what I was taking pics of (’cause even mostly eclipsed that sun is still bright!) but I ended up with some accidentally cool pics.

For some reason the weird reflection showed the eclipse phase while the actual sun just showed normal.
I think either I moved my camera while it was doing a longer exposure, or the material on the glasses was kinda warped, but I love that I captured a dragon in the eclipse.
But most of my pics looked just like this. Basically blurry blobs.

We almost lost out on the viewing because of clouds, but luckily they blew away just long enough during the “Ring of Fire” phase so we could see it.

This was the view with about 30 seconds to go before the full ring of fire view was set to show. We were all nervous, but the cloud blew away at the LAST second and we got to see it in all it’s glory.

I don’t know of an eclipse portends anything supernatural like ancient people used to believe. But for all the years to have a eclipse I feel like 2020 is a good one. I mean, it’s such a mess of a year, why not throw in some eclipses and give everyone some more superstition to believe!

Another picture “borrowed” from my friends Wechat.

Tags: solar eclipse solar eclipse dragon xiamen
Previous Article Going to a Chinese Hospital During the Covid Crisis
Next Article Online Teaching in China

Related Posts

What School is Like in China Right Now (Fall 2020)

We are a month into the fall 2020 semester, so I thought I’d give a little update on what the teaching situation is like. Masks? Alternate day in-class attendance? Social distancing on campus and a mix of classroom and online learning? Well….no. None of that. If you were beamed to

Read More about What School is Like in China Right Now (Fall 2020)
Please install Travelera Share Buttons plugin

I Won “Favorite Teacher!”

College has started and students have come back to school after being gone for 6 months, so I wasn’t surprised when a few students contacted me to ask if I was still on campus. But I was surprised when they said they wanted to see me and give me flowers.

Read More about I Won “Favorite Teacher!”
Please install Travelera Share Buttons plugin

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Recent Posts

  • What School is Like in China Right Now (Fall 2020)
  • I Won “Favorite Teacher!”
  • I Entered a Puzzle Competition! (You can make fun of me all you want.)
  • What is the Situation in China Like Now?
  • Painting a Chinese Dragon

Archives

Categories

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Recent Posts

  • What School is Like in China Right Now (Fall 2020) Becky Ances October 9, 2020
  • I Won “Favorite Teacher!” Becky Ances September 21, 2020
  • I Entered a Puzzle Competition! (You can make fun of me all you want.) Becky Ances September 10, 2020
  • Popular
  • Recent
  • The Swiss Family Robinson are a Bunch of Jerks December 11, 2009
  • Making it Official: My Chinese Boyfriend December 7, 2012
  • Good Chinese Wife Review and a Chance to Win a Free Book!! July 27, 2014
  • 10 Signs You've Lived in China a Long Time March 29, 2014
  • What School is Like in China Right Now (Fall 2020) October 9, 2020
  • I Won “Favorite Teacher!” September 21, 2020
  • I Entered a Puzzle Competition! (You can make fun of me all you want.) September 10, 2020
  • What is the Situation in China Like Now? July 30, 2020

Subscribe Now to Our Newsletter, It’s Free!

Get the best content delivered straight into your inbox!

Facebook Twitter Google+

About

I’m an American who has been living in China for more than a decade! This is my blog where I muse about all things China. Please also check out my YouTube channel “Badminton Becky” and my other badminton blog at www.badmintonbecky.com

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • What School is Like in China Right Now (Fall 2020) October 9, 2020
  • I Won “Favorite Teacher!” September 21, 2020
  • I Entered a Puzzle Competition! (You can make fun of me all you want.) September 10, 2020
© Copyright 2017. Theme by BloomPixel.