China’s fourth Antarctic base
With an annual average temperature of 36.6 degrees Celsius below zero China’s Taishan Base offers a safe haven from the harsh Antarctic conditions. Situated in Princess Elizabeth Land in East Antarctica, the station is shaped like a traditional Chinese red lantern and painted in a striking red colour.
It sits at an altitude of 2,621 meters and only operates in summer with a capacity of 20 personnel.
Taishan is the fourth of the Chinese stations built in Antarctica where China has a five decade presence, having built their first base, the Great Wall station, in 1964.
Recent work building support facilities and installing wind, sewerage disposal and solar power systems as well as more efficient diesel generators has made the base more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly.
The original base was built in 2014 and this second stage of the base’s construction will make it much more liveable with most of the support facilities built under the ice. The station is used for studying geology, glaciers, and climate change and is equipped with a runway for fixed-wing aircraft, specially designed for snow and ice. Its operating life is expected to be 15 years.
It also serves as a midway supply point between China’s Zhongshan and Kunlun stations. Now, when researchers travel between the stations, they are able to store enough fuel and supplies to allow them to fully recharge their batteries when they return from Kunlun Station, and have a safe base to retreat to if the weather turns against them. Taishan also helps to reduce the loads carried by their tracked vehicles.
China will build a fifth research base soon on the west coast of the Ross Sea.