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Chinese Cheered by Eclipse

Nation desperate for good sign a week before Olympics

By the Associated Press

Posted Aug 1, 2008 5:23 PM CDT

(AP) – 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.

A man looks at a solar eclipse through exposed x-ray film in Xian, China Friday Aug. 1, 2008.
A man looks at a solar eclipse through exposed x-ray film in Xian, China Friday Aug. 1, 2008.   (Cara Anna)
A man helps a child to look at a solar eclipse through exposed film in Xian, China Friday Aug. 1, 2008.
A man helps a child to look at a solar eclipse through exposed film in Xian, China Friday Aug. 1, 2008.   (Cara Anna)
The total solar eclipse is observed at 7:15 pm (1115 GMT) on Friday, Aug. 1, 2008  in Jinta County of Jiuquan City, northwest China's Gansu Province.
The total solar eclipse is observed at 7:15 pm (1115 GMT) on Friday, Aug. 1, 2008 in Jinta County of Jiuquan City, northwest China's Gansu Province.   (Han Chuanhao)
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Copyright 2012 Newser, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

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