After 40 years of polar exploration, my country’s fifth Antarctic research station Qinling Station was completed

　　On February 7, the Qinling Station on Ross Sea, Antarctica, was officially completed. General Secretary Xi Jinping sent a letter to express warm congratulations. The congratulatory letter pointed out that "the completion of China's Antarctic Qinling Station will provide a strong guarantee for scientific workers in my country and around the world to continue to explore the mysteries of nature and bravely climb scientific peaks."

　　Qinling Station is the fifth Antarctic research station built by our country after the Great Wall Station, Zhongshan Station, Kunlun Station and Taishan Station, and it is also the third annual research station.

　　This year marks the 40th anniversary of my country’s polar expedition. Over the past 40 years, under the leadership of the Party, my country's polar undertakings have grown from scratch, from weak to strong. Generations of polar workers have braved the extreme cold, persevered, fought hard, dedicated, were rigorous and realistic, worked hard, and achieved fruitful results.

From the edge of Antarctica to the interior of Antarctica, the scope of activities and areas of investigation continue to expand

　　On November 20, 1984, full of expectations and concerns, hundreds of warriors boarded the "Xiangyanghong 10" and "J121" ships and embarked on a glorious journey to Antarctica. This was my country's first Antarctic expedition.

　　What awaits them is the eternal ice sheet, the famous "cold pole", "dry pole" and "wind pole" on the earth.

　　Antarctica has extremely high scientific research value and is known as "the golden key to unlocking the mysteries of the earth" and "natural science laboratory". With its unique geographical conditions and natural environment, changes in Antarctica will have an immeasurable impact on the global climate environment. Human exploration of Antarctica has long since entered the era of scientific investigation from the age of exploration. Many countries have carried out large-scale scientific expeditions in Antarctica. Our country must keep up with the pace, accelerate Antarctic expeditions, fill in scientific gaps, and make due contributions to further understanding and protecting Antarctica and to the peaceful use of Antarctica by mankind.

　　If you want to continue working in extreme natural environments, the research station is the most basic support platform and logistical support facility for scientific expedition team members. Expanding new areas and building new research stations are the basic prerequisite and inevitable choice for deepening Antarctic research and exploration.

　　I still remember the hardships of building a station in Antarctica for the first time. The older generation of expedition members braved the polar wind and snow, risking their lives to jump into the freezing water, and rushed to repair the damaged temporary dock, just to race against time for unloading and construction. They work continuously for more than 12 hours every day, using their tenacious will and hard work to create an amazing website building speed. In February 1985, my country’s first Antarctic research station, the Great Wall Station, was completed.

　　Then, in February 1989, my country’s second Antarctic research station, Zhongshan Station, was completed; in January 2009, my country’s third Antarctic research station and the first Antarctic inland research station, Kunlun Station, was completed; in February 2014, my country’s third Antarctic research station, Kunlun Station, was completed. Four Antarctic research stations, Taishan Station, were completed; on February 7, 2024, my country’s fifth Antarctic research station, Qinling Station, was completed.

　　After 40 years of polar exploration, my country has formed an Antarctic expedition pattern of "five stations, two ships and one base" and entered an era of three-dimensional development of sea, land and air. The Chinese people's footsteps of self-reliance have penetrated from the edge of Antarctica to the interior, and the scope of activities and scientific investigation areas have continued to expand.

　　The Great Wall Station is located on King George Island, the Zhongshan Station is located in the Rathman Hills, the Kunlun Station and Taishan Station are located in the Antarctic inland area, and the Qinling Station is located in the Ross Sea area - the vastly different geographical differences bring richer scientific research value, optimization and improvement my country’s Antarctic scientific research layout.

　　The Great Wall Station area is suitable for sub-Antarctic ecological monitoring and research; the Zhongshan Station area is an ideal place to observe and study the evolution of the Antarctic ice sheet and the interaction of the Antarctic ice shelf and the ocean. It is also an excellent place to carry out work in high-altitude physics, geology, geophysics and other disciplines. Location; Kunlun Station and Taishan Station are located in the Antarctic inland area, standing at the forefront of ice core science, atmospheric science, astronomical science and other disciplines; the Ross Sea area has multiple circles of earth systems such as the lithosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere. The characteristics of layer interaction will help researchers explore important scientific propositions such as Antarctic changes and global linkages.

　　my country currently has two polar scientific research icebreakers. The first polar icebreaker "Snow Dragon" is an important scientific research tool. As a mobile scientific research platform, it has made great contributions to Antarctic expeditions. In July 2019, my country's first independently built polar icebreaker "Xuelong 2" was delivered for use. Since then, my country's Antarctic expedition has opened up a new situation of "Double Dragon Exploration", and new breakthroughs have been made in the comprehensive support capabilities of polar expeditions.

Vigorously promote Antarctic scientific exploration and actively practice Antarctic environmental protection

　　Over the past 40 years, our country has become a powerful promoter of scientific exploration in Antarctica.

　　From being able to survive in Antarctica, observing and sampling near the station area, to going deep into the Antarctic interior for scientific research, and drilling ancient ice cores at the highest point of the ice sheet... Through unremitting efforts, our country has initially established a comprehensive, complete system. The basically stable scientific research team has achieved a number of breakthrough results in the fields of Antarctic glaciology, space science, biological ecology, climate change science and other fields, and has written the Chinese people's own understanding of Antarctica in textbooks.

　　Countless "firsts" record the fruitful results of my country's Antarctic expedition: the first Antarctic expedition conducted the first multi-disciplinary field scientific survey in the area near the Great Wall Station; the 13th Antarctic expedition team completed the first inspection of the Antarctic inland ice sheet. Expedition; During the 19th Antarctic Expedition, my country was the first in the world to track and monitor changes in Antarctic sea ice thickness; the 21st Antarctic Expedition's inland ice sheet expedition team reached Dome A from the ground and carried out substantial Scientific expedition operation, this is the first time in the history of human Antarctic scientific expedition...

　　Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, our country has carried out 11 Antarctic expeditions, carrying out continuous observations of Antarctic atmosphere, oceans, sea ice, glaciers, soil, biological ecology and other elements, to help the international community understand the polar regions, especially the understanding of global climate change and Antarctic interaction makes an important contribution.

　　Over the past 40 years, our country has been an active practitioner of Antarctic environmental protection.

　　"Antarctica is so beautiful and pure!" said Zhang Beichen, chief scientist of the 40th Antarctic Expedition, which is currently conducting an expedition in Antarctica. This is the emotion that every scientific expedition team member will express when they arrive in Antarctica.

　　In early September 1990, in order to ensure that the seal mothers in the station area could spend their maternity leave in a good environment, the Great Wall Station temporarily stopped using all means of transportation, and all team members engaged in inspection activities walked.

　　In 2008, at the 31st Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, the Grove Mountain Harding Mountain Antarctic Special Reserve proposed by our country was approved by the meeting. This is the first Antarctic Special Reserve independently proposed by our country. and made positive contributions to regional environmental protection.

　　The "Snow Dragon 2" ship is a well-deserved "green" ship. Whether it is chimney exhaust, sewage and garbage discharge control, or real-time adjustment of air conditioning and heating, or even the application of paint, all strictly comply with environmental requirements.

　　The concept of environmental protection also continued throughout the construction process of Qinling Station. Through integrated design and coordination, staff carry out domestic assembly customization and pre-assembly to achieve energy, water and material saving. In addition, by reducing the area that disturbs the Antarctic site, reducing the number of temporary facilities and on-site construction personnel, and controlling the scope of construction activities to the maximum extent, the purpose of green and environmentally friendly station construction is achieved.

　　In 1983, my country joined the Antarctic Treaty. In October 1985, my country became a negotiating party to the Antarctic Treaty and gained a decision-making position in international polar affairs.

　　In 2017, my country successfully hosted the 40th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting and the 20th Antarctic Environmental Protection Committee Meeting, and took the lead in proposing the international initiative of "green expeditions", which was widely recognized by the international community; in 2023, my country will jointly submit with many countries on promoting The proposal for international cooperation in aviation surveys of the Antarctic ice sheet and improving the accuracy of global sea level rise predictions was supported by the meeting... Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, my country has submitted more than 80 proposal documents individually or jointly to relevant polar international organizations, participating in all aspects Formulate relevant systems and rules for polar environmental protection and resource conservation.

　　Over the past 40 years, our country has become an important participant in international Antarctic governance.

Previous Antarctic expedition teams have overcome tremendous difficulties and successfully completed station construction and scientific expedition tasks.

　　40 years ago, members of my country’s first Antarctic expedition spent their first night in Antarctica. In the tent, someone sang “Song of the Expedition Members”: “We shed drops of hot sweat while fighting tenaciously in the severe cold. We fought bravely in the ice and snow, and we dedicated our lives..."

　　Over the past 40 years, my country's Antarctic expedition teams have overcome difficulties that are unimaginable to ordinary people and successfully completed station construction and scientific research tasks.

　　Affected by the extreme climate, the window period for Antarctic expeditions is very short. All expedition members are "racing against God" and working for more than ten hours continuously is almost the norm. Some people drove snowmobiles to the interior of Antarctica and barely slept for days and nights; some people set up tents on the ice in order to drill ice cores and stayed there for many days. They said: "It is not easy to come to Antarctica. You must cherish this opportunity. As long as the conditions on site permit, do as much work as possible."

　　The Antarctic climate is unpredictable, which often disrupts scientific expedition plans. The expedition team members are calm and calm in the face of danger, unloading cargo, engineering construction, and field sampling, and have the courage to challenge difficulties. They often say, "We have to do something that has never been done before" and "there are always more solutions than difficulties."

　　Facing the violent and merciless wind and snow, the dangerous ice crevasses, and the loneliness of being away from relatives and friends for a long time, the scientific expedition team members faced the difficulties and always maintained an optimistic state of hard work and progress. During ocean operations, in order to ensure the integrity of the survey sections and stations, the team members insisted on operating in dangerous sea conditions; during the Antarctic inland expedition, the team members slept in containers and ate airline meals. They could not survive in the field for 60 days. For bathing, each person only has one pot of 1.5 liters of water per day. They said: "Everyone in the team is always holding back their energy. If they don't do well, they will have no shame in going back."

　　This energy is the distillation of the spirit of batches of Antarctic scientific expedition team members over the past 40 years. This energy will continue to inspire people who are brave enough to explore Antarctica to travel through wind and snow. (People's Daily reporter Liu Shiyao and Hu Runxin)