The Xuelong expedition ship reached the Great Wall station at 4pm on Sunday before heading to the Zhongshan station at around 8pm to pick up five new members who flew in from Chile. The total number of members on board is now 179, the report said.

The Xuelong will sail along 60 degrees south latitude for 15 days to reach the Zhongshan station. "It will cross nine time zones and cover 5000 sea miles," said Zhu Bing, a mate on board.