On April 6, the 39th Chinese Antarctic Expedition Team completed its inspection mission and returned to China. The XGMA Engineers, who successfully completed the mechanical support task for the scientific research, also returned to Xiamen.  

This expedition started in late October 2022 and lasted for 163 days, covering over 60,000 nautical miles. Multiple scientific research projects were organized and implemented, and a number of important scientific research achievements were achieved. During the inspection period, with their excellent professional strength and dedication to their work, four mechanics from XGMA of Xiamen CCRE Group, a subsidiary of Xiamen ITG Holding Group Co., Ltd. (“ITG Holding”), successfully completed the logistics support tasks of vehicle transportation and equipment maintenance at Zhongshan Station, Kunlun Station, Ross Sea New Station, as well as the inland inspection of Antarctica. They demonstrated good spirit and professional qualities of Xiamen’s industrial workers during the expedition. XGMA has also become the enterprise brand with the largest number of individuals dispatched in a single session among all previous manufacturers participating in polar scientific research.

As one of the representatives of China's independent national brands of construction machinery, XGMA has been assisting the national Antarctic scientific research activities for 31 consecutive years since 1992, and a representative — Ge Junxian, a national model worker, has emerged. As of now, 20 mechanical engineers from XGMA have participated in the Antarctic expedition, with up to 39 times of involvement. XGMA has supplied 15 sets of equipment such as wheel loaders, tracked excavators, and forklifts for the Antarctic scientific research. Sun Bo, secretary of the Party Committee and deputy director of the Polar Research Institute of China, said that generations of engineers from XGMA have continuously contributed the most capable machinists and high-quality mechanical products, effectively ensuring the successful completion of each national polar scientific research mission.

In the extreme climate of Antarctica, XGMA has created a quality legend of its own brand: the ZL40 loader, which has been serving at the Great Wall Station in Antarctica since 1995, can still be used now; at a temperature of minus 40 degrees Celsius, XGMA products can be started at once; the products have no major malfunctions and have never “broken down”... The person in charge of the company stated that over the years, XGMA has always practiced the responsibility and sentiment of “truly responsible for the mission, working together with Antarctic scientific research”. After joining the ITG Holding with CCRE Group, the company will inherit the spirit of great craftsmanship from Ge Junxian, practice the pioneering culture of ITG Holding, enhance historical initiative, and strengthen the confidence in growth to achieve a high-quality development.

    Relevant links:

Aged 37, he is a “warrior” who has been to the South Pole for a total of 1600 days; At the age of 36, he successfully climbed to the highest point of the Antarctic inland ice sheet and conquered the “inaccessible pole for humanity”; At the age of 38, he made his first expedition to Antarctica and successfully resolved a generator malfunction within ten minutes, ensuring the smooth progress of the Antarctic drilling experiment…  

The straight-line distance from Xiamen to Antarctica is 13,000 kilometers. Following the footsteps of Master Ge Junxian, the mechanical engineers from XGMA have traveled thousands of miles, fought against the wind and snow, bravely ventured into the “life restricted zone” and “white desert”, escorted Antarctic scientific research, and bloomed a unique youth in the polar regions.

Their dark skin is a mark left by the strong ultraviolet radiation from Antarctica on them. Recently at XGMA, a reporter from Xiamen Daily interviewed three mechanical engineers, Xiao Guanqing, Zeng Yinggen, and Xie Wenbi, who had returned victoriously from Antarctica. Another teammate, Wang Ronghui, was still on a support mission in Antarctica.

Every time we go on an expedition, we risk immense unknown dangers. In Antarctica, we will freeze to death, we will be blown away by the wind, and the oxygen is insufficient. Moreover, there are also ice cracks ranging from tens of centimeters to several meters under the snow…

    Xiao Guanqing: He has been to Antarctica five times, and this time he served as a vehicle mechanic at the Ross Sea New Station of China's 39th Antarctic scientific expedition.  

“As long as there is a need, I will go,” Xiao Guanqing once said in an interview with a reporter. It's hard to imagine that he has already been to Antarctica five times at the age of 37. “I am a regular visitor to Antarctica,” he said with a smile.

The indissoluble bond between Xiao Guanqing and Antarctica began in 2011. Over a period of 12 years, he conducted three Antarctic scientific research winter missions and two summer missions, spending a total of 1600 days in Antarctica. He served as a vehicle mechanic for China's 39th Antarctic expedition to the Ross Sea New Station.

Every expedition in Antarctic, the unloading on sea ice is seen as a “battle to conquer” by the expedition team. The sea ice is about 1.2 meters thick, and there are hidden ice cracks everywhere. Underneath the ice cracks is the bottomless sea, and once you fall into it, the results will be catastrophic. Although an experienced driver in Antarctica, Xiao Guanqing still felt terror lurking deep in his mind when recalling the unloading on sea ice in December 2022.

The temperature is relatively high during the day and relatively low at night, so unloading the cargo is always carried out at night. Xiao Guanqing and his teammates drove a snow truck with a load of over 7 tons, commuting between the Xuelong Ship and Zhongshan Station on the sea ice. “During the transportation process, we can’t stop. Running a few more trips will make the snow surface easier to melt, which presses us a lot psychologically. We must stay alert to the possible danger,” Xiao Guanqing said. With 6 day-and-night continuous hard work, 1,120 tons of cargoes were successfully unloaded, including scientific research equipment, living and engineering materials as well as fuel.

The harsh weather in Antarctica is part of everyday life. “Even if I was kitted out, after a few minutes of maintenance outdoors, my hands would freeze unresponsive. It took a long time for my fingers to feel numb and painful again.” At Zhongshan Station in Antarctica, he had experienced a minimum temperature of minus 44 degrees and a maximum wind speed of 41 meters per second. Xiao Guanqing said.

The conditions in Antarctica are very difficult. When he was not working, Xiao Guanqing would go round to his teammates’ rooms. Most of the time, he was still dealing with machinery.

Inarticulate in life, he always studies machinery whenever he has time, and he is a "crazy machinist". He has almost operated more than 30 vehicles at Zhongshan Station and 13 vehicles at Ross Sea New Station, including loaders, excavators, sliding loaders, crawler cranes, mining trucks, small four-wheel motorcycles, and so on. He is widely praised as a versatile mechanic. Even when the drilling machine malfunctions, he can "take action" to solve it.  

In January this year, a construction problem was handed over to Xiao Guanqing and his teammates — the drill bit of the drilling machine could not be removed. At first, they used a sledgehammer to dismantle it, but the drill bit remained motionless. What can be done? They came up with a plan: first, they used two excavators to hold down the drill pipe and then used a bucket to remove it. After more than two hours of effort, they finally removed the drill bit. “In China, the spare parts can be purchased conveniently, or we can otherwise seek for outside help. But in Antarctica, due to the limited conditions and resources, we can only search for some reference information and find our own solutions to solve the problem.”Xiao Guanqing said, “Every time I repair the equipment, I feel a full sense of achievement, and I don’t feel the hardship and fatigue of work anymore.”

Every time he goes on an expedition to Antarctica, he needs to stay for as short as half a year or as long as a year and a half. This makes Xiao Guanqing unable to take care of his family. Sometimes he feels sorry for his family, but being able to contribute to the cause of his motherland’s polar regions, he has no complaints and regrets.

    Zeng Yinggen: He has been to Antarctica twice and served as a vehicle mechanic for the Inland Team of China’s 39th Antarctic Expedition.  

On December 29, 2022, Zeng Yinggen and his teammates successfully climbed to Dome A, the highest point of the inland ice sheet at a height of 4,093 meters, conquering the “inaccessible pole for humanity”. The moment the Five-Starred Red Flag was raised, he was overtaken by a special sense of pride.  

“When I was a child, I was responsible for repairing the bicycle at home that often fell off the chain. Unexpectedly, now I have been to Antarctica to repair the machine,” Zeng Yinggen joked. Once an ordinary assembler, he became a “mechanical expert” at the age of 36 and won a gold medal of the loading units in the Third National Vocational Skills Competition for Construction Machinery Maintenance Workers. His excellent professional, physical and psychological qualities as well as his outstanding emergency response abilities have made him a mechanic in the Antarctic scientific expedition through multiple selections.

Looking back on this long and arduous inland expedition to Antarctica, Zeng Yinggen described it “thrilling but not dangerous”.

Zeng Yinggen has been on the expeditions to Antarctica twice, and this time he served as a vehicle mechanic for the core scientific research mission — China's 39th inland expedition to Antarctica.

Zhongshan Station Departure Base, Taishan Station, Kunlun Station, Grove Mountain... In 76 days, he drove a snow truck to take the scientific research team around the Antarctic inland expedition area that China can currently reach.

Dizziness, chest tightness, difficult breathing... In the inland plateau areas of Antarctica, obvious high-altitude reactions have struck. We would feel uncomfortable, but we can’t stop our work. Then, what should I do? We can only reduce the handling workload, slow down our handling speed and make everything slow. “If I can usually carry 100 catties, here I will reduce it to 50 catties. If I can walk 10 meters normally, here I can only walk 5 meters.”

Grove Mountain is the last stop for inland expedition in Antarctica, where the ice cracks are dense and it is known as the “Gate of Hell”. Every step forward comes with risks, and one must be bold, careful and observant. Zeng Yinggen told reporters that some ice cracks can be predicted in advance and they can take a different route, but most of the ice cracks are covered by floating snow and difficult to spot, and they can only discover them when the car passes by.

Zeng Yinggen has personally experienced how terrifying ice cracks are. “Once I saw an ice crack ahead, but there was no other way to go. I could only accelerate to rush forward.” As he passed the ice crack, he clearly felt the front of the car falling down, and the sled behind the car had a strong sense of dragging. “I quickly adjusted the direction, making the car perpendicular to the crack by 90 degrees, and finally passed it. Looking back, the ice crack was over 2 meters wide, and now I’m still terrified to think about it.”

Time is limited and the task is tough. The logistics support for this inland expedition in Antarctica is under great pressure. Zeng Yinggen and two other mechanics successfully ensured the safe and stable operation of 7 snow trucks and 2 inland power generation cabins, laying a solid foundation for the expedition in Antarctica. A total of 76 exploration days has set a record for the longest single inland ice sheet expedition in China’s inland expedition history.

In Antarctica, leisure activities are quite boring. Zeng Yinggen told reporters that during the Antarctic inland expedition period, he would chat with workmates and occasionally play cards during breaks. At Zhongshan Station, they could play basketball, billiards, and do some exercises. “It’s a unique experience to have some fun in the midst of adversity.”

    Xie Wenbi: It’s his first expedition to Antarctica. He served as a vehicle mechanic at Zhongshan Station for China’s 38th Antarctic Scientific Research and at Ross Sea New Station for China’s 39th Antarctic Scientific Research.  

“When I left, my child only reached the height of my shoulder. By the time I came back, my child was already taller than my head,” Xie Wenbi said emotionally, who was on his first expedition to Antarctica. He served as a vehicle mechanic at Zhongshan Station for China’s 38th Antarctic Scientific Research and at Ross Sea New Station for China’s 39th Antarctic Scientific Research, leaving home for 520 days at one time.

Xie Wenbi also serves as the Service Director of XGMA International Trading Co., Ltd. for the American Region. With XGMA equipment, he has traveled throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South America, and other regions. His rich overseas working experience has honed his strong technical skills and tempered his stable and practical character.

When he first arrived in Antarctica, the harsh natural environment really startled the “absolute beginner”. For 56 consecutive days of polar nights, the sun sets and no longer rises, it’s pitch-dark outside and one can’t even see the fingers. In the long night, Xie Wenbi was still busy - a big blizzard would soon bury the cold storage and containers as a whole. He always drove the vehicle as soon as possible to clean up the snow in the dark.

The most challenging and thrilling time was during 36 consecutive days of field work at the Dalk Glacier near Zhongshan Station. Scientific researchers drill ice cores here to collect water samples from subglacial lakes, which are used to study biological evolution, Earth’s climate change, and the evolution of the Antarctic ice sheet. This is a national key research and development project. Xie Wenbi is responsible for camp support tasks. In addition to ensuring mechanical operation and power generation, he also took the initiative to cook for them.

During operation, the generator suddenly went out of power! What does this mean? “The drilling equipment should operate 24 hours a day without any stop. If the generator loses power, it is not only impossible to collect water samples, but the drilling equipment that is 500 meters deep under the ice will also be frozen.”

It was urgent and Xie Wenbi had only 10 minutes! At this moment, the “ground blowing snow” blew harder and harder, the icy snow melted on the face and then froze, as uncomfortable as cutting with a knife. Amidst the blizzard, he calmed down and checked carefully, quickly discovering that it was the malfunction of the shut-off solenoid valve that caused the generator to shut down. “I activated the emergency mechanism immediately, started the other generator first, and then began to repair it.” There were no spare parts on the station, so he modified the generator to manual mode so that it would not be affected by the broken solenoid valve. The entire process took less than 10 minutes! After completing the task, he let out a sigh of relief, only to become aware that his hands had turned red with cold.

Continuous operation in extreme environments resulted in multiple failures of ice drills. With rich experience, Xie Wenbi quickly solved one equipment failure after another, ensuring the continuity and completeness of acquired samples.

In this way, they stayed on the ice for 36 days and spent the 2022 Spring Festival there. Without sufficient materials, Xie Wenbi managed to prepare a sumptuous New Year’s Eve dinner for the hardworking scientific researchers. “I have made dumplings, spiced beef, chicken stewed with mushrooms and shredded potatoes. Eight dishes and two snacks added is a total of 10, which symbolizes perfection,” Xie Wenbi said with a smile.

This Antarctic drilling experiment has helped obtain valuable experimental data and advanced China’s underwater lake exploration technology to the international first-class level at the same time. “During the field trial drilling period, engineer Xie Wenbi has demonstrated solid professional knowledge and excellent mechanical and electrical maintenance capabilities, successfully ensuring the safety of power generation equipment and vehicles, and effectively supporting the scientific research task.” On September 8, 2022, the School of Construction Engineering at Jilin University, responsible for this drilling test, specifically sent a letter of gratitude to XGMA.  

“Our country has entrusted us with such an important task, and we must try our best to do it well,” Xie Wenbi said. “We are followers of master Ge Junxian. Every time we encounter difficulties and problems, master Ge’s spirit of dedication and striving for excellence is a role model that drives us forward.”