Solar eclipse draws Brits to China

Thousands of British tourists are expected to travel to China in time to see the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st Century on July 22nd . Totality will last five minutes and 40 seconds at the Qiantang River and specialist China tour operator, Wendy Wu Tours is taking nearly a thousand UK travellers to see this once in a lifetime experience.

However, they won’t be the only ones as many more will have booked with other tour operators or will be travelling independently.

Laurence Hicks, managing director of Wendy Wu Tours comments, “Many people have a fascination to witness amazing natural phenomena, and this solar eclipse is even more inspirational as it will be the longest one of this century. We have been amazed by the sheer volume of people who have booked a dedicated eclipse tour with us – nearly one thousand! And this also does not take into account those UK travellers who are making their way to China by other means.”

Mr Hicks continues, “We’ve noticed that people have been booking as early as January 2008 to ensure that they will experience the solar eclipse and we even had to create extra tours to cope with the huge demand. It seems that people don’t mind how far they have to travel in order to see the eclipse and many will be first time travellers to China.”

Interest in the eclipse tours have been so popular that the company even set up a dedicated web-site - chinaeclipse.com, which when set up received thousands of hits from people wanting to know more about the special tours.

However, whilst demand has been high for the chance to witness this phenomenal event, enthusiasts may still be in time to book some of the last remaining places. Prices start from £2,390 per person for a 15 day ‘Eclipse and Glories of China’ tour which departs the UK on 17 July and has limited availability.

Visit chinaeclipse.com for details of Wendy Wu’s special solar eclipse tours.