Cai Wenjun/Shanghai Daily news

The "Xuelong," China's sole icebreaker, will leave its base in Shanghai for its 25th Antarctic expedition on October 20 - a mission to establish the nation's third scientific research station in a place where no other country or region has such a facility.

The spot, Dome Argus, or Dome A for short, is on the massive East Antarctic Ice Cap, a plateau 1,200 kilometers inland.