Chinese Cheered by Eclipse

Nation desperate for good sign a week before Olympics
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 1, 2008 5:23 PM CDT
Chinese Cheered by Eclipse
A man looks at a solar eclipse through exposed x-ray film in Xian, China Friday Aug. 1, 2008.   (Cara Anna)

Finally, China had an act of nature it could celebrate. After an Olympic year of freakish natural disasters, crowds of Chinese watched a total solar eclipse along the country's ancient Silk Road on Friday, one week before the start of the Summer Games in Beijing, the AP reports.

It was a welcome respite after a 2008 that began with heavy snowstorms at the Chinese New Year, followed by China's deadliest earthquake in a generation, then river flooding—and even a huge algae bloom at the Olympic sailing site. The eclipse, once a bad omen for China's imperial rulers, was cheered by a country eager for any auspicious sign before the games. (More China stories.)

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