Explore the planet's most southern point

Visitors abord a cruise to Antarctica are amazed by sceneries of a seemingly alien planet. [Photo by Han Song/For China Daily]

Their massive mouths and eyes are unforgettable. They sprayed water and blasted calls.

There was hardly a trace of humankind along the journey. It was like another planet.

To me, it evoked the water planet in the sci-fi blockbuster Interstellar. My shipmates likened it to a world from the Harry Potter fantasy franchise.

Neko Port appeared as a post-apocalyptic vision. It was a gray-and-black chromatic dreamscape.

It was hard to tell where the sea ended and sky began.

Ice-glazed mountains, glaciers, volcanoes, straits and juts of rock towered over the huge waves that scraped the skyline.

Penguins and seals lazed on ice without a care in the world. Whales sporadically popped up near icebergs, their cries punctuating the relative quiet.

Much of the voyage was spent slaloming among icebergs. Skyscraper-sized hunks sailed past. I found it trancelike to glide past a world that looked as if computer generated in 3-D.

Photographer Peng Zheng was nearly in tears.

The 60-year-old has taken pictures of Qomolangma (known as Mount Everest in the West) and the Tibet autonomous region's Ngari.

But he wasn't prepared for the Antarctic.

Wildlife didn't fear humans like elsewhere.

It wasn't just a tour but an adventure.

Heaven showed fickleness every day. There were blizzards, sun blasts and roiling dark cloud casts that rendered everything in black and white. I enjoyed the blue of pristine skies and water.

We disembarked to canoe and camp.

An Antarctic trip costs roughly 100,000 yuan ($15,976) for a safe journey with decent food.

The ship's eighth floor houses a "sightseeing bar", library, gym and conference room. It also offers 24-hour snacks and coffee.

Room temperatures hover around 20 C.

More Chinese have been sojourning to the Antarctic in the past few years, a guide in Argentina says.

The ship I boarded had 60 Chinese out of 200 passengers.

Some were thrill-seekers. Others were scientists and businesspeople. The more than 40 Chinese entrepreneurs held meetings and updated social media while the Americans and Europeans took in the views from the deck.

These company men also didn't dash out to see penguins or glaciers but instead posed for photos in front of company logos or recorded speeches to be delivered far from the world's southernmost point.

Yang Feiyue translated this story, first published in xinhuanet.com.