2009 CHINA- Silk road & Tibet (Jul. 22) :

Compared to past eclipse tours, China was easy to arrange and because the eclipse view was visible over a vast part of the country, eclipse chasers and organizers picked varied locations. Due to our early planning and prê-tour visits we were able to select an exclusive and special site near Anji (Hangzhou). The site offered large platforms on top of a mountain overlooking the lake and observatory. However, the day before the eclipse, I was advised that our platform was taken over by the China television crew for filming and broadcasting the eclipse. Being a communist country, the local staff seemed helpless or reluctant to intervene. Some tough talking and a firm stand from my end had the cameras moved from our viewing platform. The next challenge came on the morning of the eclipse, a Swedish group occupied our platform thinking it was theirs despite the large signage (unfortunately in Chinese) reserved for us. The Swedes were nice and after some hesitation, they moved to a different site  ( a much different experience from the 1995 encounter with the Japanese. While it rained or was cloudy at most cities in Japan and China  during the eclipse, we were able to see most of the eclipse accompanied by the longest totality of our lifetime due to the high elevation of our location.



The tour included troubled areas along the silk road visiting Kashgar and Urumqi (June riots between Hans and ethnic ….. ). Though, there were concerns about safety, the group members voted to continue with our plans with no regrets. We were one of the only two groups in Kashgar (other being German) where we had the sights to ourselves, the locals were grateful that we came and we experienced some wonderful events, scenes and much more. At no point, did we feel threatened as we walked the streets, photographed and shopped etc. Tibet was the icing on the cake and a  successful eclipse tour was completed.