China scales Mount Everest to remeasures its height using indigenous 5G technology: Report

While referring to Mount Everest as Mount Qomolangma, China announced on May 27 that it has completed its mission of remeasuring the highest mountain peak in the world using indigenous 5G technology and satellite navigation.

A Chinese newspaper, Global Times, reported that a team of eight professionals dressed in red mountaineering suits reached the peak of Mount Everest on 11 am (local time) at an altitude of 8,300 meters after starting from the base camp at 2:10 am (local time) on the same day.

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The Chinese professionals, who stayed at the peak of Mount Everest for nearly two hours, also established a survey marker to aid the other members of team surveying at the height of 5,000-6,000 meters for intersection measurement along with deriving the depth of snow and satellite positioning of the summit, known in China as Qomolangma. The entire Chinese expedition of Mount Everest was even viewed by millions through live streaming enabled with 5G communication technology. 

As per reports, Wang Yongfeng, the general commander of the 53-member mission, who was at the Everest Base Camp at 5,200 meters, was able to communicate with the members at the peak. Yongfeng was reported saying that the 5G reception at the mountain was ‘excellent’.

China now boasts to have covered the world’s highest peak with its indigenous 5G network with the help of tech giant Huawei for enhanced terminal-to-terminal solutions. 

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The technology used by China

Along with 5G, other new technologies that were part of the Chinese mission to Mount Everest included domestically developed BeiDou Satellite Navigation System (BDS), China’s second-generation Geostationary Meteorological system called Fengyun-4 and communication satellite Zhongxing-6A.

Li Guopeng, an official with the Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources, was quoted by an international media outlet saying that it would be the first time BDS was used in height survey. Furthermore, the BDS-enabled receiver can detect the crustal movement.

With this mission, China became the only country to climb Mount Everest in 2020 while the world has been stuck at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As per reports, the Asian superpower has conducted at least six major surveys of Mount Everest to date but the height was registered only in 1975 and 2005.

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