The Yellow River Station is the only polar scientific research station established by China within the Arctic Circle, and it is also the third polar scientific research station of China after the Great Wall Station and Zhongshan Station in Antarctica.
But when it comes to the Yellow River Station, there are quite a few twists and turns.
In fact, the reason why the Yellow River Station could be built in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, must be thanked to Professor Gao Dengyi from China.
In fact, the name Svalbard was still very unfamiliar to the Chinese before 1991, or in other words, the Chinese had forgotten this place, which they should have had sovereignty over, for a full sixty-six years.
At the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century, the Dutch and the British discovered the Svalbard Islands successively, and this archipelago with many whales and walruses began to come into the world's attention.
In 1858, the Finns discovered a large amount of coal and other mineral resources on the archipelago, which immediately attracted the attention of many European countries. People from many European countries began to enter the archipelago, including Norwegians, Russians, British, Germans, Swedes, Danes, etc. However, the largest population was still Russians and Norwegians.
These people first hunted whales, walruses and seals on Svalbard, then slowly began to mine the island's mineral resources, and gradually formed a number of immigrant towns, including Longyearbyen, Barentsburg, Sveagluva, Ny-Ålesund, and the now completely evacuated dead town of Plamiden, which was built by the former Soviet Union. These were all places of residence established by those European immigrants on Svalbard.
From the perspective of population and actual administrative jurisdiction, Norway and Russia seem to have a heavier weight. However, Norway's national strength is limited after all, and Russia was in the midst of revolution and civil war at the time and had no time to look west. This was undoubtedly the best historical opportunity for the European and American powers who were unwilling to give up their interests in the Svalbard Islands. So the countries hurriedly launched shuttle diplomacy, bargaining, using many "isms" and "principles", and after countless rounds, finally reached a set of conditions that everyone could accept.
On February 9, 1920, 18 countries including Britain, the United States, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan signed the Treaty on the Administrative Status of the Spitsbergen Islands, also known as the Svalbard Treaty, in Paris. In 1925, 33 countries including China, the former Soviet Union, Germany, Finland and Spain also joined the treaty and became the signatories of the Svalbard Treaty.
The treaty makes Svalbard the first and only demilitarized zone in the Arctic. The treaty recognizes Norway's "full and complete sovereignty" and that the area "shall never be used for warlike purposes." However, citizens of the contracting states can enter the area on their own and engage in legitimate production and commercial activities within the scope of compliance with Norwegian law.
That is to say, as a signatory to the treaty, China had already obtained an enclave in Europe in 1925. The Chinese have the full right to enter and exit the Svalbard Islands at will, and also have the right to build their own outposts there.
But unfortunately, this treaty was forgotten. After the founding of New China, no one expected that there would be such a treaty that was extremely beneficial to China.
It was not until 1991 that Professor Gao Dengyi was invited to Norway for a polar scientific expedition, and saw the English version of the Svalbard Treaty in the Arctic Guide presented by Professor Y. Ye Xin of the University of Bergen in Norway.
Later, when Professor Gao Dengyi brought the Svalbard Treaty back to China, Huaxia realized that his country actually had such an enclave in Northern Europe. In the end, Huaxia relied on this treaty to establish the Yellow River Station in New Alesund in 2004.
This is the polar research station that was converted from a dormitory building where the miners of Wangwan Company lived.
This building is one of the few buildings in New Alesund that is built with reinforced concrete. It was built in the 1940s as a dormitory for miners of Wangwan Company. Later, Huaxia and Wangwan Company signed a lease agreement and converted the building into the Yellow River Station.
Therefore, this building does not have any imposing gate. If there were not two white marble lions squatting in front of the gate, Yang Jing and Gege would really find it hard to believe that this was the gate of the Yellow River Station - the gate was just a single door, no different from the doors of ordinary residents' homes.
Led by He Rui, Yang Jing and Gege were about to push the door open when it opened. A young man walked out yawning and frowning.
When He Rui saw the young man, she asked, "Zhao Bin, why do you look like that? Are you being bullied by Station Master Li again?"
Zhao Bin helplessly spread his hands and said, "Sister He, please stop teasing me... Hey? Sister He, are these two tourists from China?"
"Well, my college classmate happened to be passing by here, so he came to visit."
"Welcome to the Yellow River Station." The young man was just polite, not as enthusiastic as expected, and then said to He Rui: "Sister He, I'm sorry to leave you. I have to send this information to the laboratory on the mountain for comparison, otherwise Station Master Li will punish me again." After saying that, the young man politely waved to Yang Jing and Gege, and hurried out.
Gege said puzzledly: "This guy doesn't seem to welcome us. We are from China after all. How come he is not excited at all to meet us in such a far place?"
He Rui laughed and said, "Haha, you feel frustrated, right? Fourth girl, let me tell you, it's not that Zhao Bin doesn't welcome you, nor is it that he's not excited to see his fellow countrymen. It's mainly because since the beginning of summer, there have been tourists from China coming here every day. At most, our Yellow River Station has to receive three waves of tourists from China a day. We have long been numb to domestic visitors."
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