Travel Notes | The Farthest South – Antarctica (5) – Great Wall Station and Antarctic Scientific Expedition

2018-12

1. Great Wall Station

Being able to land at the Great Wall Station, I would like to especially thank Mr. Cao Jianxi.

Before departure, the ship informed that the Polar Center is adjusting the management regulations of polar scientific research stations this year. Currently, all cruise ships are not allowed to visit the Great Wall Station during the 2018-2019 sailing season. Everyone was reluctant and often asked if they could visit the Great Wall Station after boarding the ship, but there was never an optimistic answer.

Mr. Cao Jianxi has worked at the China Polar Research Center for many years, participated in Antarctic scientific expeditions 4 times, spent the winter at the Antarctic Great Wall Station and served as the deputy station director of the Kunlun Station. With the coordination between him and the shipowner, we finally became the first ship to sail this season. Among all cruise ships from various countries, it was the first to land at the Great Wall Station.

Mr. Cao’s lecture was low-key and peaceful, and he spoke eloquently, but one could tell that his experience of working in Antarctica was truly a legend.

After I came back, I read the book "Sign of Life - Top of Antarctica" again, written by Mao Yilei. In this book, Mao Yilei, a Harvard-educated doctor from the Union Medical College, participated in the construction of the Kunlun Station as a team doctor. During the 25th Antarctic scientific expedition, you can learn the details of the arduous work in Antarctica from his diary.

Dome A (Dome A) , with an altitude of 4039 meters, is the highest point of the Antarctic ice sheet. The twenty-fifth Antarctic expedition mission in 2009 was to establish my country's first Antarctic inland research station in the ice dome A - which later became the Kunlun Station.

The Xuelong arrived near Zhongshan Station and began unloading cargo in the ice sea. A large Caterpillar snowmobile fell into the deep sea due to cracks in the sea ice. The driver narrowly escaped with his life (the driver died in a helicopter crash near the end of the inspection mission). To build the Kunlun station, the remaining two snowmobiles had to be unloaded to haul supplies. Cao Jianxi wrote a suicide note and risked his life with another team member to drive two snowmobiles from Xuelong to Zhongshan Station across the sea ice.

The Kunlun Station is located more than 1,200 deep into the Antarctic interior. The window period for station construction is only a few dozen days. The expedition team carried a large amount of station building materials and braved freezing temperatures for 20 days 30 He rushed on the road non-stop under severe cold, without any supplies or rescue along the way. There were also extremely dangerous crevasses on the road. If something happened, there was no time to react. Many explorers were killed in the crevasses. As a chief mechanic, you have to bear heavy driving, maintenance, and support tasks. The psychological and physical pressure can be imagined.

In order to welcome the leaders who came to cut the ribbon for the completion of Kunlun Station, Cao Jianxi built a simple airport by himself and named it "Kunlun Airport". Later, due to bad weather, the leader's plane could not land and the airport was not used.

After returning to China, he won the second-class and third-class merit from the State Oceanic Administration and was received by Premier Li Keqiang.

Later, because it was too far and difficult to get from Zhongshan Station to Kunlun Station, Taishan Station was built in the middle as a relay for rest and supplies.

The Great Wall Station was built on 1985 on 2 month 20. King George Island where we are now is the largest island in the South Shetland Islands. In addition to the Great Wall Station, there are 7 research stations established by other countries on the island. Adjacent to China Station are: Ferre Station in Chile, Bellingshausen Station in Russia , Artigas Station in Uruguay and King Sejong Station in South Korea.

China is a latecomer to the Antarctic expedition, establishing research stations 30 years later than developed countries. The Antarctic Treaty signed in 1959 is divided into consultative countries and contracting countries. The consultative countries are composed of countries that have established research stations in the Antarctic region and have the right to speak and vote in international Antarctic affairs. Countries that have joined the treaty but have not established a research station are signatories and have the right to speak but not vote. The so-called " The negotiating countries are first-class citizens and the contracting states are second-class citizens." The establishment of the Great Wall Station changed China's position in Antarctic affairs.

In Antarctica all supplies are replenished by the Snow Dragon once a year. Vegetables are extremely precious. After a month, there were no more green vegetables, leaving only Chinese cabbage, potatoes, and onions. Chinese cabbage can be eaten for five to six months. If you see Chinese cabbage rotting, everyone will be very distressed.

After the Snow Dragon left, more than a dozen scientific expedition members spent more than 400 days wintering in the ice and snow of Antarctica, surviving alone , it was a silent suffering " A lonely war ". If you stay in such a closed environment for a long time, some people will develop psychological abnormalities of varying degrees, be irritable and irritable, etc.

As soon as the winter expedition team members left Shanghai Port, they had to come back 18 months later. There was once a young team member who couldn't bear the homesickness. He tried to drive an assault boat back to China in the wind and snow, but was ignored by everyone. Anyway, I stopped him.

Sometimes two people in the same room are busy with their own affairs and don't say a word for several days.

There are also people who spend all of their annual inspection subsidy of US$2,000 on long-distance phone calls to their families.

Patriotism, truth-seeking, innovation, hard work

The small bay in front is named Great Wall Bay

Cold Mountain Bells

Antarctic environmental protection requirements are extremely strict. No garbage is allowed to be left in Antarctica. Alien species are not allowed to enter. Domestic garbage at the research station will be burned if it can be burned, and all that cannot be burned will be packed up It is packaged and brought back to China for treatment, and domestic drainage must be treated with biochemical membranes. During field expeditions, the expedition team members’ feces must be brought back to the station in garbage bags for disposal.

The Great Wall Station area is two kilometers from north to south and one kilometer from east to west. There are 25 various buildings, including office buildings, dormitory buildings, medical, cultural and sports buildings, meteorological buildings, communications and scientific research buildings, etc.7A main building and several science buildings.

A small road sign refers to a big city, and a large road sign points to the direction of the team members’ hometowns.

Let’s talk about the feelings of Antarctic scientific researchers. There is a tombstone at Zhongshan Station that belongs to Gao Qinquan, the first wintering station director. He was the first Chinese to reach the South Pole and made great contributions to the establishment of Zhongshan Station. Because he became ill due to hard work and hard work in Antarctica, he died young due to illness after returning home. His last wish was to bury half of his ashes in Antarctica. Every summer, the expedition team members would pay homage to him, and during the Qingming Festival, the wintering team members would also visit his grave.

Pay tribute to the heroes of Antarctic scientific expeditions.

2. Scientific research history

Thomas is a tourism professor who studies Antarctica. He has been to Antarctica more than 30 times. He has rich knowledge and the content of his lectures is very interesting. I really can’t repeat the content anymore, so I’ll keep the course material and read it slowly when I’m interested, just as an introduction.

I asked him a question in class: Does the Malvinas Islands dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom apply to the Antarctic Convention? Does anyone know the answer? Raise your hand.

3. Brown Station, Argentina

Here is a sad story. This is the Argentinian Emilante Brown scientific research station. The Argentine scientific expedition team conducted research here until 1984. The doctor who had been stationed at the station because he could no longer endure the coming long winter, died late that night. The Huojiang Scientific Research Station was set up, and he wanted to achieve his goal of returning home through this extreme method. No one was injured in the fire, but the station has since been abandoned, except for a few emergency aid rooms stocked with supplies.

paradise bay

Paradise Bay is a beautiful fjord. Due to its special geographical location, it is surrounded by islands. The wind and waves are weakened by the layers of natural screens on the outside until only flat ripples remain. The glaciers extend from the top of the mountain to the seaside, making it majestic. There are a large number of golden penguins living here, and it is also a place where humpback whales often visit.

The glacier fell, accompanied by a rumble and a wave of water

It was a windy and snowy journey from Paradise Bay to Lockley Station in the UK. The Zodiac was driving so fast that when I raised my head, my hat was blown straight into the sea. There were 8 or 9 people on the boat. In order not to affect everyone's schedule, they quickly told the expedition team sailing the boat that they didn't want their hats and went directly to the landing. But the expedition team did not hesitate, slowed down and sailed back to find the hat. They retrieved the wet hat before landing. Later, friends traveling with me analyzed that if the hat was left in the sea, it would be a violation of the Antarctic Convention and a big mistake.

3. Lockley Station, UK

Passing through the Neymar Waterway with majestic cliffs on both sides, you will arrive at - Lockley Station, the only post office in Antarctica. You can mail postcards here, and a stamp costs one dollar. I don’t know. Who said that it takes an average of half a year for postcards to be sent back to China, and the loss rate exceeds 70%? We were so scared that we all bought postcards, stamped them ourselves, and took them away ourselves.

This station has been heavily surrounded by golden penguins. The air around is filled with the breath of penguin life. There is a highway of penguins in front of the door and behind the house.

A young man at the station took a speedboat to the boat to give us a lecture. I didn’t remember what he said, but I remembered that besides him, a man, there were two other female staff members at the station, which made many people on the boat envious.