ABOARD XUELONG - China's only icebreaker Xuelong, or "Snow Dragon", returned to its designated anchorage area at the mouth of the Yangtze River on Thursday night, concluding the country's 28th Antarctic expedition.

Xuelong, an A-2 class icebreaker capable of breaking ice 1.2 meters thick, left the port of Tianjin on Nov 3, 2011, and had covered an estimated 28,000 nautical miles over the 196-day course.

During the expedition, Xuelong delivered supplies to the country's Antarctic stations and scientists on board conducted various scientific research tasks, including polar environmental survey and the installation of an Antarctica survey telescope.

Xuelong is schedule to return to its Shanghai base on Sunday.