Cross the canyon

Author: Zhang Jimin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: Expedition to the Antarctic continent, immersion in the Arctic snowfields, crossing the Taklamakan Desert, trekking through the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, and circling the Qaidam Basin. The scientific exploration photo-essays "Adventure Around the World" are compiled by Zhang Jimin, a senior reporter of Xinhua News Agency, and published by Social Sciences Academic Press. This series of photo-essays, titled "Focusing on Antarctica," "Exploring the Arctic," "Crossing the Canyon," and "Scanning the West," consists of nearly 700 photographs and approximately 200,000 words. In many chapters of this series, helpless danger runs through the entire narrative: encountering a massive snow avalanche in the Antarctic ice region, nearly losing the ship and its crew; reluctantly flying multiple times close to the peaks of the Svalbard Islands in the Arctic in a small plane; trekking through the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, where annoying leeches not only cause tension but also demand a bloody price, yet an infinite passion is unleashed: under the withered branches, the wedding of the desert people is equally lively with songs and dances, but why is the bride hidden? The penguins of Antarctica are gentle and endearing. However, if these creatures get stubborn, they can also be both amusing and exasperating; what should you do if you encounter a polar bear? Shouting, throwing clothes, and firing a gun with a bullet, the "Arctic Essentials" gives you tips.
Additionally, to meet the intellectual needs of teenagers, popular science is woven throughout the series. Why is the southeastern Tibet lush? How long do icebergs last? How was the yardang landscape formed? The series answers these questions from a scientific perspective, illustrated vividly. Since 1987, Zhang Jimin has traveled to remote places such as Antarctica, the Arctic, the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, the Taklamakan Desert, the Nansha Islands, and the Qinling Mountains to conduct scientific exploration and reporting. In 1994, he collaborated with scientists to discover the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon as the world's Grand Canyon, becoming one of its discoverers. How was the world's Grand Canyon—the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon in southeastern Tibet—discovered? Why is it so perilous, magnificent, and lush, completely different from the many impoverished and desolate areas of Tibet? In addition to revealing the discovery process, the author also answers, through his personal experiences, why the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon has become a channel for the warm and humid air currents of the Indian Ocean to move northward and why intense geological activity has created its unique landscape.
Target Audience: Adventure and travel enthusiasts, as well as those interested in popular science and geography.