Spectacle: Total Eclipse of the City

We hadn't managed to get to Shanghai in time for the total solar eclipse, but there would still be a fairly full eclipse visible from Beijing, so we had decided to view it from Tian'anmen Square; it was nearby, it would be interesting because of all the people there, and there was enough space that tall buildings would not block our view of the sun.

The pollution was terrible

In the morning we had a look outside and the pollution was the worst we had seen it. We discussed trying to get out of the city where the air should be clearer, but we hadn't really got up early enough to realise any alternative plans, and we just accepted that we were stuck with the plan we had. We had to get within about fifty metres of Tian'anmen Square before we could even see it, but hopefully the sun would still be visible through the fug. There were plenty of people in the Square but most of them seemed to be waiting for tours of the Forbidden City to begin.

We could hardly see across the Square

Serve the People!

Our arrival was a short time before the start of the eclipse and there was no sign at all of the sun. Even the other side of the Square was partially obscured. Given the conditions I didn't expect to see anything until near the maximum of the eclipse, when I hoped we would at least notice it becoming darker. We waited and people-watched. As time passed, it seemed like it might be getting darker, but it was so gradual that our eyes were adjusting to it and it was hard to be sure there really was anything to notice.

Looking back towards the Forbidden City

People watching in Tian'anmen Square

The yellow troupe

Just after the time for the maximum of the eclipse had passed and we were starting to give up altogether, a troupe of yellow-clad youths seemed to be moving in formation to music. I couldn't see clearly what was going on, so I got up to take a closer look, planning to take a video clip of whatever was going on, and left Joanne sitting and paging through the Lonely Planet. I had just whipped out my camera, as I was close enough to video the dancers, when I noticed people all around me going oooh and aaah and pointing to the heavens. I looked up and there it was: a not quite full solar eclipse, which I immediately snapped a couple of photos of. I thought of whistling or shouting back at Joanne, but then remembered all the security forces around and thought better of acting in such a prominent and individualistic way in Tian'anmen Square, however when I looked over I could see everyone around her was looking up and pointing at the sky too, so she would obviously have seen it too. The whole time we were in China people stared at us, even in Beijing where they see lots of tourists. Often they asked to have their photo taken with us, and that day was no exception.

They took a photo so I thought we should too

I took a couple more shots and walked back over to Joanne; nobody runs or jogs in the Square. Did she see it, I immediately asked, but my confidence had already subsided as she still seemed engrossed in the Lonely Planet.

Charcter in the Square

Inevitably the response was “see what?”. The eclipse had long since sunk back behind the Beijing soup and Joanne had seen nothing. She was devastated: “All this time waiting around and I miss it!”. We waited a bit more in case it broke through again but, when enough time had passed that there would no longer be much to see, we gave up and headed off in the direction of the opticians where Joanne planned to get some cheap glasses and contact lenses; we had heard the prices are a fraction of what you pay in Scotland. Just as we were about to leave the square, I spotted the sun peeking through again and alerted Joanne. It was still fairly eclipsed, but it was well on its way to the end. Joanne cheered up that she had at least seen something of the eclipse, if not the relative spectacle I had witnessed.

The eclipse as Joanne saw it

At the opticians, with some difficulty, we were able to establish that the very reasonable prices on display were for everything, not just the frames. It really was a bargain, however I admonished Joanne for simply agreeing to the ticket price as the girl from the hostel who had given us the directions said we should definitely get a discount off the advertised price. But at 240 Yuan it was still a great price, I'm told. After a bit of coaching from me, she also chose a pair of polarising sunglasses and this time asked for a discount, claiming grounds that we had already bought something. They were very obliging and dropped to price from 120 to 70 with no argument. We were asked to come back in 45 minutes when the glasses would be ready.

Girl working at a tea shop we couldn't afford

Joanne's birthday was the next day and she had chosen to attend one of the famous Beijing acrobatics shows as a birthday treat, however she suspected the one they were selling tickets for at the hostel might be a bit touristy, so we were now hunting a theatre the Lonely Planet had recommended for a more authentic experience, partly in the hope it would be cheaper too.

Engrish

A muggy half-hour walk brought us to the theatre, where we discovered that the cheapest tickets were a bit more than those the hostel was offering and, what's more, the hostel were offering transport there and back, which seemed like a large bonus now that we were both sticky with humid sweat. Just outside the theatre were women kneeling on the pavement selling pretty Chinese fans. I considered buying a couple then, so we had something to keep cool with, but the fact I had not yet bought anything for Joanne's birthday made me see sense and I decided to return alone later.

On the way back to the opticians we decided we should really take more advantage of the cheap prices, and get another pair of glasses for Joanne to post home, as well as a replacement for the dodgy spare pair of Joanne's sunglasses I had been wearing since I lost mine. Maybe to save us all embarrassment after our clumsy haggling earlier, this time we only had to ask what the price was and they dropped it considerably, and I walked away with a new pair of polarising sunglasses for 70 Yuan, and Joanne secured a second pair of glasses for 200. This meant another wait, so I took the opportunity to offer to pick them up after some shopping I had to do. It turned out Joanne had expected me to do any remaining birthday shopping at a market we had planned to go to earlier, but I was sure I would be fine locally.

Front Gate

As soon as Joanne was out of sight I began the march back down the road to the theatre. The opticians was off a main street, just south of one of Beijing's few remaining city gates, which seemed to be a brand new shopping district that wasn't even finished.

No fun!

It seemed so new and artificial that it had more the feel of a film set rather than a real place for real people. Most of the shops weren't open yet, but those that were are clearly pitched at the high-end and tourist market. There were tram tracks and stops on the street, but no sign of any overhead power supply; if the street had not been so obviously new I would have assumed that they were vestiges of a defunct transportation system, so had they constructed this artifice of a street with built-in romantic nostalgia? It seemed possible considering how fake everything else about the street was. At the bottom of the street a sign confirmed that it was not to be a fun place: a four-by-five grid of signs prohibiting various behaviours would probably have been smaller if they had listed instead what was allowed; spending money and supporting the Chinese economy exclusively, I would think.

Top of the strange street

I couldn't get over the pollution

Green eggs (but no ham)

After a rather misjudged “shortcut” I ended up back at the theatre. Of course the fan-selling women had gone. I really could have done with one myself by that point too, but I needed to press on, so I made my way all the way back to the vicinity of the opticians, picking up a cute Buddha's Eyes key ring, allegedly made from yak bone, from a Tibetan shop on the way. Then almost across the road from the opticians I noticed some fans in a shop Joanne had described as “a junk shop” earlier. She had really wanted a fan, so I went in anyway. Although I was conscious of Joanne's description, the shop seemed to have some really nice stock and I found myself piling several items on top of pretty fan I had chosen. None of it was very expensive but since the dive trip in Thailand was meant to have been her present, she was only expecting token gifts anyway. Very pleased with myself, I collected the glasses and headed home. As I passed the top of the fake street, I tram pulled along side me, drawing large crowds of onlookers. Another one was sitting ornamentally behind gates at the other side of the street. They must be powered by an onboard battery but, judging by the trouble they had moving the thing even at a crawl, they are only going to be used for “fun rides”, in keeping with the rest of the street, rather than for anything real like transport. On the way home a downpour started, leaving it mercifully cooler afterwards.

The tram appears at the top of the fake street

Back at the hostel we realised that the cheaper acrobatics tickets the hostel were selling was actually to the very same place we had visited earlier.

written by

The Happy Couple on July 22, 2009 from Beijing, China

from the travel blog: Michael's Round-the-World honeymoon

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