Chinese scientists and engineers have been sharing their experiences during the nation's 38th expedition to Antarctica from the Zhongshan and Great Wall stations on the ice continent.

"Zhongshan Station works with talented teams from home and abroad to carry out research focusing on ice and snow climate change in Antarctica, and on space environment and space weather," explained Guo Jingxue, the mission's head of winter observation.

He Fang, a scientist at the Great Wall Station, said his job mainly involves sampling for marine environmental elements, biological ecology, atmospheric environment and space physics at specific times and places.

"The network communication at Zhongshan Station has been improved a lot. Now we can have real-time data transmission and stay in contact with headquarters in a timely manner. All this has improved the support capacity of on-site equipment," said Ma Jingkai, a scientist at Zhongshan.

The team also reports that living conditions have also improved significantly.

"As to our daily life, the new bathroom is more comfortable. In the past, the bathroom would seem cramped for those heavily built. Now it is spacious for all of us to stretch our arms and legs," said Su Shiyu, a staff member at the Great Wall Station.

"Here, I can harvest one kilogram of fresh vegetables every day by soil-less cultivation, like bok choy, aubergines and cucumbers. These supplies can ensure balanced nutrition for our team members," said Zhao Junyong, a doctor.

 Zhao Duanran, an engineer at the Zhongshan Station, said he works on maintaining vehicles and repairing heating systems.

China started its 38th Antarctic expedition on Nov. 5, with the research icebreaker Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, setting off from Shanghai. The first batch of 154 researchers on the ship will return to China in mid-April.

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