Glasses hot sellers for solar eclipses in Chengdu

• Source: Global Times
• [12:08 July 21 2009]
• Comments

By Zhu Shanshan

Special eye-glasses for observing solar eclipses are hot selling items in Chengdu, a southwestern Chinese city due to the approaching event on Wednesday.

“We sold almost 100 pairs of glasses for the solar eclipse in one day,” said the boss of a Chengdu optical shop surnamed Yang . “We had planned to purchase more before the event.”

Chengdu was among one of the four spots designated by the National Astronomical Observatory to observe the once-in-a-century solar eclipse in China and CCTV will broadcast the event live in Chengdu on Wednesday.

Shi Ruilin, who runs a small boutique in Chengdu, sells the special glasses for less than five yuan a pair in her shop.

“The glasses have been very popular in the past few days. I sold dozens of pairs each day because I lowered the price while other shops sell them at five yuan,” Shi said,.

The upcoming natural event can be observed in many cities along the Yangtze River basin and experts advised people in those cities to wear special eye-glasses or other instruments to observe it. The special glasses, five to 10 yuan a pair in Chengdu, are almost opaque which can protect the wearers’ eyes while watching the eclipse.