China's main Antarctic base relies on Xue Long icebreakers. Ice thickness measurements determine whether ships can reach the station each summer.
Hannes Grobe, Alfred Wegener Institute, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
A Hub for Polar Research
Established on February 26, 1989, Zhongshan Station is China's second research outpost in Antarctica. It sits on the ice-free Larsemann Hills, overlooking the vast expanse of Prydz Bay in East Antarctica. The station operates year-round, accommodating about 60 personnel during the summer and 25 for the harsh winter. Its location is a strategic site for scientific expeditions to the interior of the continent, including the Kunlun Station at Dome A, the highest point of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.
The research conducted at Zhongshan is covers glaciology, geology, atmospheric physics, and marine science. Scientists study the mass balance of the ice sheet, hunt for meteorites in the nearby Grove Mountains, and monitor atmospheric chemistry. In late 2024, the Zhongshan National Atmospheric Background Station began operations, providing long-term data on atmospheric composition to monitor global climate change. The station's position on a magnetic field line that is conjugate to the Yellow River Station in the Arctic allows for unique, simultaneous studies of auroras at both poles.
The Icebreaker Lifeline
The station's existence depends entirely on its annual resupply by sea, a difficult logistical operation. Prydz Bay is choked with sea ice for much of the year, with average thicknesses of 0.7 meters for drift ice and 1.4 meters for land-fast ice closer to the coast. The annual mission falls to China's polar-class icebreakers, Xue Long and the more advanced, domestically-built Xue Long 2. The Xue Long 2, which entered service in 2019, is a Polar Class 3 vessel measuring 122.5 meters long. It is engineered to break through 1.5-meter-thick ice at a continuous speed of 2 to 3 knots.
Successfully navigating Prydz Bay requires constant assessment of the ice conditions. The ships use satellite imagery and helicopter reconnaissance to find paths through the ice. The final approach to the station often involves the Xue Long 2 carving a channel for the Xue Long through thick land-fast ice. Unloading the 2,000 tons of supplies, from fuel to food and scientific equipment, involves a combination of transport over the sea ice and helicopter airlifts from an unloading point that can be 12 kilometers from the station itself. The entire operation is a race against time before the bay freezes over, trapping the ships.
💡Fun Facts
The station is named after Dr. Sun Yat-sen (Sun Zhongshan), a major figure in the founding of the Republic of China.
The construction of the original station in 1989 was completed in just 28 days after the expedition ship, *Jidi*, was temporarily trapped by icebergs for seven days.
The *Xue Long 2* possesses a "two-way" icebreaking capability, meaning it can break thick ice just as effectively with its stern as with its bow.
The station is a base for the PANDA project, a research initiative studying the massive Lambert Glacier-Amery Ice Shelf system.
Not open to the public. It is an active scientific research facility.
Admission
Not applicable. Access is restricted to national Antarctic program personnel.
Accessibility
Accessible only to authorized personnel via icebreaker or specialized aircraft. The local terrain consists of rocky, ice-free hills surrounded by the continental ice sheet and sea ice.
