China's polar icebreakers open to public in eastern port city

Two made-in-China polar icebreakers, Xuelong 2 and Jidi, opened for public viewing on Wednesday in Qingdao, a port city in east China's Shandong Province.

Docked at the Qingdao International Sailing Center, the two ships will be open for public visits until Thursday noon, with an expected attendance of around 3,600 visitors.

The name "Jidi" means "polar region" in Chinese. Jidi is a domestically designed and manufactured new-generation research icebreaker, which was delivered on June 24. Measuring 89.95 meters in length and 17.8 meters in width, the vessel has a total tonnage of 4,600 tonnes and can break through ice up to 1 meter thick.

The Xuelong 2, or "Snow Dragon," is China's first self-developed polar research icebreaker. It is also the world's first ship to use two-way ice-breaking technology, enabling it to break through ice while moving both forward and backward with the assistance of its bow and stern.

(Reported by Hu Yaojie; Edited by Jiang Lu)