the SASI eclipse tour has been in shanghai for last couple of days and in suzhou tonight; tomorrow we are headed for hangzhou where we hope to observe the eclipse; however, even though the forecast is not the greatest, the china experience is simply awesome
highlight of today..visited Synta's factory and got a tour; dozens of pictures;photo with the owner; and a sneak peek at the awesome new hand controller proposed to be launched in December
will post piccys when I get back this is just a hurried update
Very, very hot and humid 39-41 deg C every day + high humidity. We have been through Shanghai and Suzhou and Hangzhou tomorrow – then the eclipse hopefully on Wednesday.
What haven’t we seen ? You simply would not believe this place they are now very western (at least where we have been so far). It is almost like being in Hurstville (Sydney) most of the time. Maccas, KFC etc etc everywhere. Almost everyone in the city owns a car or two. The expressways have to be seen to be believed – they leave us for dead.
Maglev very fast train -- we took a short trip at 434 km/hr (not kidding) from the airport to the city.
Construction everywhere 24/7. Beautiful Gardens, interesting factories. The accommodation has been good to very good – excellent tonight in Suzhou. We went to the Synta (telescope) factory today. Very professional and big outfit given the market they cater to. We all met the president of Synta and I asked about whether they are looking to produce bigger mirrors down the track (ie 18-25") -- no not interested. So that rumour is dead -- sorry. You can't get any more "horses mouth" than that.
Food good to very good.
So far I’ve been offered genuine Rolex watches at least 200 times on the street. Green lasers pointers at least 500 times and pens and all sorts of other assorted goodies. Last night about 11pm, while I was outside the Hilton (yes -- I was looking at the sky, honest) a guy tried to entice me over the road to a strip-joint. 50 RMB (about 11 AUD) to "look for a long time" -- 100 RMB you can "touch the beautiful girl all over her skins" (I'll leave you to imagine the accent). He was very, very persistent for over 10 mins.
And no (to finish the story), I didn't go with him but doggedly persisted with my naked eye observing under a mag 2.5 sky (am I a tragic or what?).
I have at last located and seen Polaris!!!! Yay! -- at last !
Weather for Wed (eclipse day) looks as good as can be realistically hoped for -- 36 deg C hazy and chance of an afternoon thunderstorm. The pattern for the last 3 days has been clear in the morning with a gradual build-up of haze and high cloud over the rest of the day. Totality is 9.45am (ish) so if the pattern continues, we’re in with ˝ a chance. There is reason for guarded optimism.
Have to go – almost 1.30am. Internet here tonight is free. A net connection was very expensive at the Hilton last 2 nights (so I gave it a miss).
Just a quick update. The weather prospects (formal forecast) for tomorrow are somewhat "dicey" at this stage.
There was a train of thought that we should think about going about 4 hrs west of here away from the coast where the prospects look possibly 10% better based on the current forecast but we have decided to stick with plan "A" and to observe about 2 hrs from here at a point about 1/2 way between Shanghai and Hangzhou about 60km from the coast.
For each of the last 4 days here MSN weather have been predicting thunderstorms and or showers and cloud but instead it has been reasonably clear in the mornings (light high cloud) and not a drop of precipitation at all.
After looking at the cloud picture my gut feeling is we will see an eclipse but I don't have much to back that up.
What haven’t we seen ? You simply would not believe this place they are now very western (at least where we have been so far). It is almost like being in Hurstville (Sydney) most of the time. Maccas, KFC etc etc everywhere. Almost everyone in the city owns a car or two. The expressways have to be seen to be believed – they leave us for dead.
It is amazing isn't it. I've been to China a few times and the change over the last decade is hard to describe and hard to imagine...A determined government (without opposition) can accomplish incredible things.
Hope you guys all get to see and enjoy the eclipse...I wish I was there too!
