[Photo via VCG]

This year's Lantern Festival falls on March 3, and the only total lunar eclipse of 2026 will take place in the evening. A spectacular "Blood Moon" will hang high in the night sky.

The partial eclipse will begin at 17:49 on March 3, visible above the horizon only in Northeast China.

By 18:22, half of the Moon will be eclipsed. Regions in eastern China, including Beijing, will witness an eclipsed moonrise around this time.

Totality will begin at 19:04, as the Moon fully enters Earth's umbra. The full moon will transform into a Blood Moon, and the night sky will darken, revealing the stars previously obscured by the full moon's glow.

The maximum eclipse will occur at 19:33, when the Moon is at its darkest. The Moon will then gradually become brighter. Totality will end at 20:02 as the Moon begins to emerge from the umbra, regaining its silvery radiance. Over the next hour, the dark shadow on the Moon will shrink until 21:17 when it returns to a full disk.

(Source: The Beijing News)