A Chinese expedition team comprising 18 members reached the summit of Mount Cho Oyu, also known as Mount Qowowuyag, on Sunday morning to carry out scientific research on the world's sixth-highest peak, with an altitude of 8,201 meters, on the China-Nepal border.
It is the first time Chinese scientists have scaled a peak exceeding 8,000 meters in altitude apart from Mount Qomolangma, the world's highest summit.
The expedition team departed from a camp at 5,700 meters on Friday, tasked with setting up an automatic weather station, measuring the thickness of snow and ice, and collecting ice cores and rock samples from the summit, China Media Group (CMG) reported.
The 2023 Mount Cho Oyu expedition underscores China's capability to effectively organize and execute comprehensive scientific research in extremely high-altitude areas, said Yao Tandong, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
A Chinese expedition team sets up an automatic weather station at an altitude of 6,450 meters on Mount Cho Oyu on the China-Nepal border, September 30, 2023. /CMG
The expedition is part of the second comprehensive scientific expedition on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau initiated in 2017.
Since the end of September, a total of 120 scientists have been conducting research on water, ecology and human activities around the mountain.
(Cover: A Chinese expedition team walks on Mount Cho Oyu on the China-Nepal border, September 30, 2023. /CMG)
(With input from Xinhua)