This year's expedition is newsworthy, not because of any special scientific research or projects that will be carried out, but because there will be so many new and unexpected faces on the team.

Two women members - one from the State Oceanic Administration (SOA), which is in charge of the country's Polar expedition programs, and the other from a Beijing hospital - will be traveling with the team. For the first time, they will join 35 male members to live through the entire half-year-long Antarctic winter, a season characterized by extreme cold and long night.

Although women members have been a part of previous expeditions, none of them have ever stayed through the winter, a task many thought would be too extreme for women.

In addition to the women, four scholars without scientific backgrounds have been invited to take part in the expedition.

Sponsored by a publishing house, they will live with the researchers at the two stations until the end of the Antarctic summer, which will come in February of next year.

By including the two women members in the home-keeping groups that will manage the SOA's two stations until the end of next year, this year's expedition expects to bring some changes to the "tiny society" previously composed of only men, said Wang Jiangguo, captain of this year's expedition.

"This decision is an experiment," Wang told China Daily. "We'd like to see if the inclusion of women will bring some sort of biological and psychological balance to the tiny society in the stations."

According to the captain, previous expeditions have seen tension often build up in the all-male groups which are forced to stay through the long Antarctic winter.

Under the isolated, night-dominated environment, people tend to become irritable and oversensitive and often suffer melancholia. "One of the major reasons is probably the absence of women there," Wang said. "After all, a normal society should be composed of men and women."

Zhao Ping, the woman member from the SOA, said she volunteered to join the cross-winter team.

Before becoming an official with SOA's Polar expedition office two years ago, Zhao studied educational psychology and taught in colleges.

She said she hoped to conduct research on the psychological variations displayed by the cross-winter team members while also aiding in the daily care of the station.

"I think it is a place where mutual dialogue is crucial yet inadequate," she said. "We hope we can help change that situation a bit."

The four non-scientific scholars are all renowned writers in the humanities field.

They are Ge Jianxiong, a historian, Shao Binhong, an economist, and He Huaihong and Zhou Guoping, both philosophers.

Ge, a professor from Fudan University who specializes in China's ancient geography, said he was approached by the Fujian-based Lujiang Publishing House and offered the opportunity to go to Antarctica in June, when he was attending a symposium in the port city of Qingdao.

He accepted it right away, even before informing his family in Shanghai. "I was afraid they would be a bit worried about my security," he explained. "Later I made a phone call to my daughter but she said she wanted to go there with me."

The four scholars will stay at the stations for about two months, participating in some surveys and observations when possible.

Each plans to publish something about their thoughts and experiences after returning from the icy continent.

Although pondering philosophy can just as easily be accomplished in Beijing as in the Antarctic, Zhou said he believed that a relatively isolated environment will press him into probing the innermost depths of what it means to be a human being. "I plan to put down my thoughts and observations there in a diary and write up a book when back," said Zhou.

He has been known for his diary-style book on his passed daughter.

The captain, Wang, said that inviting scholars without scientific backgrounds to go on the expedition is something other countries have done.

"The Antarctic continent does not exist merely for scientific significance," he said. "We believe it is a good idea. And their books will hopefully rekindle people's interest in this land of natural treasures."

He said the expedition team generally converged in Beijing between November and December, when it is summer in southern hemisphere.

After having completed all the diplomatic formalities and trainings, they will set off by air or by sea, depending on the magnitude of each mission.

Fifteen years have passed since China established its first research station in Antarctica. China now has two research stations there - the Great Wall Station and the Zhongshan Station.

This year's team consists of 37 members and the first subgroup of 22 set off on Thursday. This first group took a flight to Chile, where they are expected to board a United States air force aircraft that will take them to the Great Wall Station which is located on the King George Island today.

The second group, composed of 15, is expected to set off in January next year. They will staff the Zhongshan Station, which is located on the Larsemann Hills of East Antarctica.

In terms of scale, this year's expedition is relatively small and rather low-profile compared with the previous ones. The regular expedition ship, Xuelong, is currently undergoing major repairs following consecutive sea voyages in the past years and is hence not available to the team.

This significantly cuts down the scale of this year's expedition, both in terms of the participants and the research programs.

Meanwhile, the Antarctic expedition has entered a subtle time as the ninth five-year Antarctic project (1996-2000) is drawing to a close with another round of long-term research plans yet to be decided.

"In term of research, this year is an ordinary one," said Wu Yilin, an official with the Technology Division of the SOA.

He said the research teams this year will conduct routine surveys and make observations about Antarctic Glaciology, upper atmospheric physics and geology. Some of the Chinese scientists will work in collaboration with their foreign counterparts.

"We will not be pursuing any major experiments or programs this year," he said.

(China Daily 12/12/2000)