The icebreaker Xuelong, or "Snow Dragon," arrived Sunday at the roadstead off China's Changcheng station during the country's 28th scientific expedition to Antarctica.

The icebreaker Xuelong, or "Snow Dragon," arrived Sunday at the roadstead off China's Changcheng station during the country's 28th scientific expedition to Antarctica.

The A-2 class icebreaker, capable of breaking 1.2 meter-thick ice, has covered 4,330 nautical miles (8,019 km) since leaving another Chinese Antarctic research station, Zhongshan, 16 days ago.

At Changcheng Station, the expedition team will spend five days unloading an estimated 700 tons of cargo.

The 220-member expedition team, including two scholars from Taiwan, is carrying out 31 scientific research tasks during the current trip, which will last about 160 days.

Before embarking on the expedition, the ship was open to the public in north China's Tianjin city for two days in early November 2011, attracting thousands of visitors.

China launched its first Antarctic expedition in 1984 and has established three stations there -- Changcheng, Zhongshan and Kunlun.