Tourists have flooded into Shanghai and eastern China, hoping to watch Wednesday’s total eclipse of the sun. Hotels in several cities, including Shanghai, are fully booked. Many authorities fear there will be traffic chaos.

The eclipse, which will take place at 01:58 CEST, will be unusually long: in some locations, the moon will block all light from the sun for almost seven minutes.

However, meteorologists are predicting heavy clouds and rain in the area, so it is doubtful whether many people will be able to see anything. The eclipse is, weather permitting, also to be seen in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar.

The next total solar eclipse will take place on July 11, 2010. It will track across the South Pacific, above French Polynesia and Easter Island to the southern tip of South America. Easter Island lies in the Pacific Ocean, 3,510 kilometres west of Chile.

Photo of 2006 solar eclipse by Erwyn van der Meer (flickr)