Grand Canyon Glacier Expedition

Author: Zhang Wenjing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-09-01
Features: Exploration has two types, one for scientific purposes, and one for curiosity. They are quite different. The China Association for Science Exploration has always advocated for scientific exploration, which aims at scientific research and is guided by scientific thinking and methods. The trek across the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon this time belongs to scientific exploration. In 1998, the successful and safe completion of the first human trek across the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon fulfilled the long-cherished dream of Chinese scientists, becoming a pride of the Chinese nation. At the end of the 20th century, this major scientific exploration was ranked second in the Top 10 Science and Technology Progress News of 1998 by the academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, a well-deserved honor. The successful and safe completion of the scientific exploration and survey of the trek across the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon is the result of years of research by Chinese scientists on the canyon, gradually deepening their understanding of the natural laws of the canyon and, in the process, realizing self-awareness and self-improvement. From the perspective of epistemology, it is a virtuous cycle of "knowing oneself and knowing the other" between science and nature, a fruit of mutual understanding and reliance between humans and nature. The scientists trekked across the canyon, faced danger firsthand, and recorded their experiences authentically, vividly recreating the arduous journey and profoundly revealing the ups and downs, joys and sorrows of scientific exploration. From the author's diary, we can both feel the hardships of exploration and enjoy the pleasures of nature; we can be moved by the heroic stories of the explorers and touched by their deep friendships; we can learn the basic knowledge of field exploration and surveys, and understand the immense magic of the canyon's moisture channel in both nature and human activities.