Chinese Mainland Finds Optimal Point to Welcome The Sun in 2001The first ray of sunshine in 2001 to hit the Chinese mainland will light the top of Kuocang Mountain in Linhai City in east China's Zhejiang Province, said experts from the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.The sunlight will reach the mountain-top, which can accommodate several hundred thousand sunrise watchers, at 6:43 a.m. on January 1, 2001. The optimal point to view the sun is 1,382.4 meters above sea level, 120 degrees 55 minutes east longitude and 28 degrees 49 minutes north latitude. Yang Qicong and Zheng Jinzhong, two engineers at the Taizhou Meteorological Bureau, predicted that Kuocang Mountain will see the sun earlier than Shitang, the first place to welcome the first ray of sunshine in 2000. Their research results were recently confirmed by He Yu'nan from the Purple Mountain Observatory of Chinese Academy of Sciences after further measures and calculations. It is predicted that Kuocang will see the sun several minutes earlier than Shitang in the beginning of next year. The Linhai government is busy arranging a festival to welcome the first light of the new year. |
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