Fuddland

I had oh-so-very high hopes for this eclipse.

My attempts at viewing the Cornish Eclipse in the summer of 1999 were thwarted by overcast skies, so I was quite excited to learn that the path of the total eclipse of the century was passing straight over Suzhou. I decided that heading out to Tianping Hill would give me a good vantage point, surrounded by trees below and noticeably less pollution than the downtown area.

But, as much of the rest of the eclipse-watching world found, when the day arrived there was nothing to be seen but an overcast sky. Ever the optimist, I got together my camera, tripod and newly-purchased solar filters and was soon making the ascent in the light drizzle.

About halfway up, the skies opened and the rain went from drizzle to downpour in a matter of minutes. In my morning grogginess I’d forgotten to pack an umbrella, but a passing pair of students sidled up to me and offered me one as they huddled under another. It soon became obvious that the Sun was never going to be visible, so I thanked the two girls for their loan and headed back down to catch the bus into town. I was still on the bus when the darkness descended, which was impressively swift and all the more eerie for the torrents of rain that were hammering the roof and roads.

Still, at least I got a couple of decent shots of the lotus pond at Tianping Hill before the rain started … and there’s still next January to look forward to.