Beijing, July 20 (DPA) As astronomers and amateur stargazers stare heavenward at the total solar eclipse in eastern China Wednesday, at least one group of visitors, keepers and zoologists will be peering horizontally through the brief blackout at captive animals.

The city zoo in Changzhou, one of the best locations for seeing the total eclipse, will assemble elephants, monkeys and other animals deemed easy to control, to record the animals' reaction to the disturbing changes of light and temperature during the eclipse.

The observation at Changzhou zoo is one of scores of special events in China to mark the solar eclipse.

Hundreds of millions of people are expected to watch the eclipse across China, most of them in major Chinese cities along the Yangzte river valley, and in India.

'Almost 300 million people live along the total-eclipse belt,' Li Jing, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' National Observatory, told DPA.

'With the current media publicity, if there is good, sunny weather, then we will see several hundred million people watching,' Li said.

Ancient astronomers first recorded solar eclipses in China 4,000 years ago.

One of the earliest legends concerns an emperor who ordered the execution of two court astronomers accused of failing to predict an eclipse.

A literal meaning of the Chinese characters for a total eclipse is a 'complete eating', reflecting primitive belief that a dragon was taking a bite out of the sun or moon during an eclipse.

Eclipses were once seen as a portent of doom, with superstitious Chinese believing they were followed by a major natural disaster or the collapse of an imperial dynasty.

Some such superstitions endure in Communist China, especially those linking earthquakes or other natural disasters with political change.

But the vast majority of Chinese who watch this week's eclipse will expect nothing more than a once-in-a-lifetime experience of what will be the longest total eclipse this century.

The fact that the eclipse should be clearly visible in 42 major cities, broadly along the Yangtze river valley, has fuelled the excitement in China.

A partial eclipse will draw residents of many other cities, including Beijing and Hong Kong, which will see 73-percent and 75-percent eclipses, respectively.

In Chengdu, the furthest west of those cities, the total eclipse will begin at 9.