Chongqing (China), July 22 (Xinhua) A total solar eclipse was observed at many places in China Wednesday morning, officials said.

At 9.15 a.m., many places in the upper reaches of China's longest river, the Yangtze, were engulfed in total darkness.

The moon's shadow blocked the sun, leaving only the solar corona visible in China's Chongqing Municipality and Guang'an City in southwestern Sichuan province.

The cities in the region turned off the streetlights for better viewing of the total eclipse that lasted for about four minutes.

The July 22 eclipse was the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century.

Millions of eclipse-watchers gathered at the banks of the Yellow and Yangtze rivers early Wednesday to observe the spectacle.

A partial solar eclipse started at 8.01 a.m. in Cona County, Tibet in southwest China, according to an observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The county was one of the first places in the country to see the eclipse.

However, the view at Cona was blocked by clouds, according to sources from the CAS Purple Mountain Observatory based in Nanjing in eastern Jiangsu province.