Team members of research vessel and icebreaker Xuelong (Snow Dragon) say goodbye at a Shanghai dock, east China, Nov. 2, 2016. China launched its 33rd Antarctic expedition when Xuelong left a Shanghai dock Wednesday morning.
A 256-member team has embarked on their 161-day trip of 31,000 nautical miles, according to Sun Bo, deputy director of the Polar Research Institute of China, who leads the team.
They will visit the Zhongshan, Kunlun, Taishan and Changcheng stations, performing various research tasks. The team will also carry out environmental clean-up around the stations.
The team is scheduled to return to Shanghai on April 11 next year.(Xinhua/Fang Zhe)