T minus one year: Shanghai and its environs
scouted out exactly one year before hit by the long 2009 TSE
In order to find suitable observing locations for a German tour I'll be accompanying in 2009 I spent two days (22 and 23 July 2008) together with a local travel specialist and a driver scouting places South and Southwest of Shanghai - the strip of totality here is so broad that we never even approached its limits. Shanghai itself will be in the umbra for 5 minutes, but going towards the central line has two advantages: up to nearly 1 more minute of totality and somewhat clearer skies because you escape the worst air pollution.Shanghai itself
Tai ji quan in a nice little park, just off the main Yan An Road in downtown Shanghai - all this takes place around 6 a.m. and fulfills Western expectations of "what China is like" to their fullest.
That's the scenery a few steps behind a major downtown hotel on Yan An Rd.: These are not the famous hutongs (you still find in many places in Beijing) but typical residential areas.
More morning scenes between park and hotel: lots of well-cared for cats - and underground market halls. The Shanghai variant of the jiaozi (dumpling) with tasty meat inside sells for one yuan per piece.
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Shanghai vistas in the evening: a trafic jam alert system - and a trafic jam. There was no time to visit specific sites in Shanghai but one late evening I strolled to The Bund which offered a dim view of the famous Pudong skyline: to save energy most lighting goes out before midnight. At least the waning Moon could be seen rising clearly between the hirises.
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Shanghai Astronomical Observatory: the Sheshan site
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 On the Western outskirts of Shanghai near the town Qingpu we find, on a small hill, the original site of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory: About half of the builduings are now an exciting astronomy museum documenting the long history of the place, open to the public (but sans any English captions, info material or guides), and the 40-cm double astrograph can be visited. The area will be open during the 2009 TSE, we learned - surely one of the better spots near the city ... Nearby is an operating optical observatory which will move away soon, though, because of Shanghai's light pollution. After much negotiating we could visit the dome of the 1.56 m telescope which also offers a fine view of another dome (with laser-ranging equipment) and the cathedral which shares the hill with the astronomers in an unusual way. |
Driving Southwest, destination central line: Wuzhen
The upper pictures says it all: Whereever nothing is built in the wider Shanghai area, the soil is used for agriculture - especially rice paddies. There simply are no open, free, accessible spaces with hard ground that would even be able to host, say 30 observers! One rare exception are facilities at the highway near Jiaxing, in the vicinity of Wangdian with large parking lots - and pretty close to the central line: as a secondary (cloud-escape) spot this one might be suitable.
Welcome to Wuzhen, namely the historical water town (which is now run as a business, with most 'inhabitants' working for the company) - probably the most scenic spot close to the central line of the 2009 TSE in the Easternmost province, Zhejiang, the central line cuts through. When we visited the place it was not only incredibly hot but also pretty much empty of other visitors. This may be different on the morning of 22 July 2009 ...
At the far end there is some open ground, esp. around a major pagoda (of a Buddhist monastery); there is also a lot of water (over which heavy luggage must be transported by boats; you can only carry in hand luggage yourself!) - and a long but narrow main path with buildings, including small hotels, on both sides.
Along that path only two somewhat larger places were found from which the eclipse could be seen well (one even with a well-placed bar). Much more space can be found outside the narrow paths old town, e.g. in a public square (which may be filled by locals at eclipse time; large picture) - or in more private settings I can't talk about yet. Overall Wuzhen's extensive new town would make a nice base for TSE 2009, with as much history thrown in as you prefer.
Driving South, destination central line: Jinshan
South of Shanghai the situation along the highways is similar: simply no room for larger groups of observers. Parking lots next to the road are unknown here; only gas stations might offer some space.
Along the coast line between Zhelin and Jinshan: Only here and there a narrow beach can be accessed; much spaceis used up by chemical plants. The coastal road ("Huhang Highway") is dotted with small villages: only individual travellers may find room here for their telescopes.
We've reached the town of Jinshan, already quite close to the central line: wide roads, lots of green, places suitable for observing ...
... and several hotels to choose from. If going "to the limit", i.e. intercepting the Moon's shadow as it is about to exit the Asian mainland, this could be your base. But what about moving even closer to the central line?
This is tough: The road South of Jinshan (we've just left Shanghai district for, again, Zhejiang, by the way) is peppered with very busy - surely interesting but astronomically less attractive - villages. And between them the ubiquitous rice paddies.
Practically on the central line we found a very dusty place: the construction site of a new harbor (here's a sign showing the plan). If it's finished by eclipse time it might offer space for observers - who knows ...
Exiting Shanghai in style - on Germany's "Transrapid" maglev train
To get to the airport (for a flight to Beijing and the TSE 2008 trip proper) I took the Maglev Train, the only operational incarnation of the German Transrapid system. Bad timing: at the early hour it only did 301 kph, just as a regular high-speed train such as the ICE 3. At least the ride was very smooth.
