The eclipse was first sighted at dawn in eastern India near the town of Guahati before moving north and east to Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China

    Solar eclipse is seen in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, at 8:33 a.m. on Wednesday, July 22, 2009. Photograph: Wang Peng/AP

    Tourists, astronomers and residents across a large swathe of Asia turned their eyes to the heavens today as the longest eclipse of the 21st century arrived.

    Viewing for many was marred by heavy clouds and rain, but the drama of the total eclipse – as darkness swept a narrow path across the continent – was unmistakable.

    Jiaxing in Zhejiang province, picked out by China's National Astronomical Observatory as one of the best spots to view the phenomenon, was drenched by rain after days of fine weather. Forecasters had warned all eight of the selected sites could suffer bad weather.

    Thousands of foreign tourists had come to the little-known city of 3.5m inhabitants. They reportedly included a party from India who had feared monsoon rains might obscure their view at home.

    Around a thousand gathered in a public square for an official ceremony to mark the occasion. There were cheers when a glimpse of sun briefly broke through the clouds, shortly before the eclipse was due to begin at 8.22.20.

    Visitors grabbed their darkened glasses in anticipation, following reminders that viewing with the naked eye could damage their eyesight.

    But they would have little chance to use them: shortly afterwards the heavens opened and torrential rain hit the six viewing spots across the city.

    Said Jin Qinlong, director of the tourism administration, said it was the most popular event in the city.

    Despite the stress of organising it, he added, he felt "a deep calm and peace" as darkness swept across the land.

    The phenomenon began at dawn over the western coast of India, passing over Surat, Indore, Bhopal, Varanasi and Patna, NASA said. It moved east across Nepal, Burma, Bangladesh and Bhutan and then along China's Yangtze River Valley, home to 300 million.

    Thick cloud cover over India obscured the sun when the eclipse began but the clouds parted in several cities, minutes before the total eclipse took place at 6.24 am.

    In neighboring Bangladesh, people came out in droves.

    "It's a rare moment, I never thought I would see this in my life," said Abdullah Sayeed, a college student who traveled to Panchagarh town from the capital Dhaka to view it.

    He said cars in the town needed to use headlights as "night darkness has fallen suddenly."

    One of the best views, shown live on several television channels, appeared to be in the Indian town of Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges river, sacred to devout Hindus.

    Thousands of Hindus took a dip in keeping with the ancient belief that bathing in the river at Varanasi, especially on special occasions, cleanses one's sins. The eclipse was seen there for 3 minutes and 48 seconds.

    From there it passed to southern Japan and across the Pacific Ocean, where it would reach its maximum length of 6 minutes and 29 seconds.

    In Jiaxing, the sun began to slip behind the moon at 8.22.20 and reemerged completely 11.00.21, with total eclipse from 9.35.01 to 9.40.57.

    According to NASA, a total eclipse, when the moon passes between the earth and the sun, is only visible from a narrow strip - about 150 km wide - of the Earth's surface at any one time.

    Humans have recorded eclipses for thousands of years, but they were often sources of fear rather than fascination. China's Cabinet – the State Council – recognised their enduring power when it issued a directive urging local officials to ensure social stability during the event and urged academics and the media to explain the scientific principles behind it lest it caused blind panic.

    Historic Chinese documents suggest that they are portents of change.

    "There's a long tradition in China's past of the natural world and human world being interconnected so developments in one speak to the other," said Professor Jeffrey Wasserstrom of the University of California Davis.

    "From 2,000 years ago or so, the imperial family was interested in any kind of astronomical knowledge that could help predict eclipses. It's an early version of spin…if you knew in advance the heavens were displeased you could interpret that as being about bad officials who needed to be reprimanded as opposed to the dynasty being imperilled.

    "To what extent anyone thinks in those terms now is another matter."

    On a more prosaic note, Chinese authorities in many towns turned on street lights and ordered all police officers to remain on duty, fearing traffic accidents and other problems.

    Yan Jun, director of the National Astronomical Observatories, told the official People's Daily newspaper that the abrupt blackout might inflict dangers on road transport, shipping, air travel and even medical services and other activities. He suggested telecommunications and power transmission might also be affected due to sudden changes in astronomic gravity and light intensity.

    In Jiaxing, residents expressed disappointment at the low visibility but tourists appeared to be taking it in their stride. Pupils from Southend Boys High School struck up a rousing chorus of their school song and a briefer rendition of It's Raining Men as they huddled beneath umbrellas in the square.

    "Unfortunately, everything's eclipsed now," said Dr Mahamarowi Omar, an amateur astronomer who had brought a tour group from Malaysia just to see the phenomenon.

    "It's something so great that humans should experience it. It's not only science. We are Muslim and after this we will go and pray to God together. He has brought us the beautiful sky and earth and sun."

    There was still no sign of the sun when the rain cleared, but the sky was darkening second by second as the moon swept across its face somewhere behind the clouds. Grumbles and sighs of frustration turned to gasps.

    Moments later Jiaxing enjoyed its second dawn of the day. This time, as the sky lightened, glimpses of an upside-down crescent of the sun could be caught through viewing glasses.

    "There's nothing greater than a solar eclipse," said Sammy Grech, who had travelled all the way from Malta, where he heads the astronomical society.

    "Except the rain," he added thoughtfully.

    本次日食首先是黎明時分在印度東部高哈蒂小鎮附近，進而向東部和北部的尼泊爾、緬甸、孟加拉、不丹和中國的方向移動。

    中國西北部寧夏回族自治區首府銀川拍攝到的日食景象，時值2009年6月22日，星期三上午8點33分。 攝像： 王鵬/美聯社

    今日，亞洲成千上萬的游客、天文學家和當地居民聚集在各地，觀看本世紀以來歷時最長的一次日食。

    烏云和降雨影響了不少地方對日食的觀測，但由于亞洲大陸被籠罩在黑暗中便于觀景，此次日食的整體觀測仍如人所愿。

    浙江省嘉興是中國國家天文觀測中心選定的最適宜觀景的地點之一，此地在連日放晴的天氣后出現降雨。氣象臺已發出警告，所有被挑選的適宜觀看日食的地點都可能天公不作美。

    上千名國外游客早早便聚集在這個人口350萬的名不見經傳的小城市。據悉，其中包括了一個從印度專程前來的團隊，因為他們擔心自己家鄉的季風降雨影響對日食的觀測。

    大約一千人聚集在廣場上舉行正式的儀式來紀念此刻。在比預測的日食時間上午8點22分22秒稍早一點的時候，人們看見一絲太陽光從云端中透出，便歡呼起來。

    觀看者戴上了提前準備的太陽觀測眼鏡，有關專家提醒，用肉眼直接進行觀測會傷害眼睛的視力。

    然而他們用得上眼鏡的機會不多：在城內6個觀測點，天空的烏云散開沒多久便下起驟雨。

    嘉興市旅游局局長金琴龍表示，這是本市最為激動人心的一刻。

    盡管人員流動疏導管理的壓力很大，他補充說，在黑暗籠罩大地的那一刻，他感到一種"平靜安寧"的氛圍。

    日食的景觀于黎明時分在印度西岸開始，跨域蘇特拉、印多爾、博帕爾、瓦臘納西和巴特納，美國宇航局指出，日食景觀經過尼泊爾、緬甸、孟加拉和不丹然后沿路降臨中國長江流域，該地人口約有3億。

    印度上空烏云密布，在日食出現的時候擋住了太陽；但在個別城市，早晨6點24分，在日食出現的幾分鐘前烏云便散去。

    在鄰國孟加拉，人們紛紛跑到戶外觀看日食。

    這是百年難得一見的景觀，我從沒想到在我有生之年能夠看到。" 大學生阿布杜拉·賽義德說道，他從首府達卡趕到盤查噶爾小鎮觀看奇觀。

    他說隨著"夜晚般的黑暗突然降臨",小鎮里的汽車必須使用車前燈照明。

    在眾多最佳觀測地點中，印度瓦臘納西小鎮被幾家電視臺選中，在印度圣河--恒河的岸邊進行現場直播。

    數千名印度教徒在恒河中沐浴，他們保留著古老的信仰，認為在瓦臘納西的恒河里沐浴，尤其是在特殊時刻，能夠洗清自己的罪惡。日食在當地持續了3分鐘48秒。

    緊接著日食現象來到了日本南部并跨越太平洋，在那里，日食達到6分29秒的最長持續時間。

    在嘉興，太陽在上午8點22分20秒的時候被月亮擋住，并在11點零21秒的時候完全重現，整個日食時間從9點35分01秒到9點40分57秒。

    據美國宇航局所說，整個日食過程，即在月亮位于地球和太陽之間的時間內，也僅僅在地表一條約150公里寬的狹長地帶的某一時刻可以觀看到。

    人類對日食現象的記錄可追溯到幾千年前，但那時的記錄更多的是蒙昧的恐懼，而非理解的熱衷。中國國務院意識到了日食的社會影響，并直接指示有關各地當局確保日食期間的社會穩定，并促請專家學者和媒體宣傳報道其科學常識，以免出現不必要的恐慌。

    中國古代文獻里認為日食是變遷的征兆。

    美國加州大學戴維斯分校的華志建教授說："中國自古有一個傳統觀念，那就是自然世界和人類社會的相輔相成。"

    "大約兩千年前開始，皇室就喜歡通過夜觀天象來預測日食出現。這是一個對自然現象的早期的詮釋……如果你提前知道了上天的不滿，那你可以解釋成：當權者昏庸無能受到指責，而政權已岌岌可危。

    "而現今抱有這種想法的人已不多。"

    中國當局更以一種沉悶的基調指示各地亮起路燈并命令所有警察官員上崗值勤，以免交通事故和其他問題的出現。

    中國科學院國家天文臺臺長嚴俊告訴官方報紙人民日報記者，日食期間突發的天色變暗可能會引起道路交通、海運和航空的危險，甚至可能影響公共醫療服務或其他活動。他并表示電信服務和電力供應也可能受天文重力和光強度突變的影響。

    在嘉興，當地居民普遍反映對低能見度的失望，但游客們則對此坦然接受。來自英國索森德男子高中的學生們歡呼雀躍合唱起校歌并在廣場上撐傘扮演雨人。

    "遺憾的是，萬物都已寂寥，" 天文愛好者奧馬爾先生說道。他率領旅游團從馬來西亞來到這里看日食。

    "這真是世紀奇景，我們都應該好好享受觀賞。這不僅僅是科學現象。我們穆斯林看到這個神奇的景觀，要一起向神祈禱。是他帶給我們如此瑰麗的天空、大地和太陽的美景。"

    當降雨停止的時候，太陽仍未露臉，但當月亮在云層背后擋住太陽時，天空正迅速變暗。正抱怨惋惜著的人們這時發出驚嘆。

    過一會兒，嘉興當地又重現破曉。這時，天空漸漸變亮的時候可以通過觀測鏡看到呈倒立狀的太陽的新月形狀。

    "日食景觀真是奇絕無比，"薩米·格列茨說道。他專程從馬耳他島趕來，他是當地天文學界的權威。

    "當然，遺憾的是下雨了。"他若有所思地說道。