STORY: Hong Kong explorer Rebecca Lee celebrates life's new adventure
SHOOTING TIME: July 8, 2024
DATELINE: July 29, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:54
LOCATION: HONG KONG, China
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of a climate change museum in Hong Kong, China 
2. file footage of the South Pole exploration
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): REBECCA LEE, Hong Kong explorer
4. file footage of Earth's three extremes
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): REBECCA LEE, Hong Kong explorer
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): REBECCA LEE, Hong Kong explorer

STORYLINE:

With straight bangs, a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, and a soft voice, Rebecca Lee looks more like a teacher than an explorer.
   
The 80-year-old has many identities: photographer, polar researcher, graphic designer, and most importantly, Hong Kong's first female explorer to have set foot on the Earth's three extremes -- the North Pole, the South Pole and Mount Qomolangma.
   
Now, having hung up her explorer boots, Lee is ready for the next expedition, one that would last a lifetime: environmental protection and education.
   
From a young age, Lee was intrigued by adventures. Books such as "Robinson Crusoe" and "Around the World in Eighty Days" were her favorites. By 1985, when China established its first scientific research station in Antarctica, she had visited over 100 cities worldwide.
   
Back then, as a graphic designer, Lee was part of the team planning for an exhibition on China's Antarctic expedition in Hong Kong. Intrigued by the unique continent, she applied to become a photographer to film China's second Antarctic expedition that year.
   
The first time she set foot on Antarctica, she was stunned.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): REBECCA LEE, Hong Kong explorer
"The research station was not spacious, but it was a great work for me. Flags in multiple colors had been hung up, making me touched deeply."

Over the ensuing decades, she returned to the continent seven times, visited the Arctic ten times, and left her footprint in areas of the Mount Qomolangma four times.
   
During the trips, she developed intimacy with nature, and felt for herself how climate change is causing damage to it.
   
SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): REBECCA LEE, Hong Kong explorer
"I would like to learn everything. I wanted to know how penguins protect their children, how they lay eggs, and how the incubation process works. I must see what they are like in winter and in summer. Animals have spirits and maternal love too. These stories can be shared with children: how the father keeps them safe, how the mother searches for and brings food back, and how she teaches the baby birds to open their mouths to catch food. I have recorded those moments."

Her expeditions have led her to reflect on the impact of human activities on nature. In order to enhance public awareness of environmental issues, she organized lectures and initiated the establishment of the Polar Museum Foundation, hoping to inspire young people to appreciate nature and contribute to environmental protection.
   
In 2013, thanks to Lee's efforts, the Museum of Climate Change was established. The city's first-ever museum dedicated to climate change displayed a collection of artefacts from Lee's expeditions, including thousands of pictures and hundreds of hours of video footage.
   
SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): REBECCA LEE, Hong Kong explorer
"I want to create an exhibition hall for everyone in the country. Many people wonder what's so interesting about Antarctica and what it has to do with me. It's not just about me. I am grateful for all the wonderful things the Earth has given us. The Earth has nurtured us, and we should reciprocate with love and care. Protecting the Earth is also protecting the next generation. By destroying the Earth now, we are also destroying the living space of future generations. I can't bear to see that. I've seen the best, and I want to leave something better for the next generation."

If Lee's life is about connecting the dots, the arrival of China's first domestically made polar icebreaker Xuelong 2 to Hong Kong was another important mark.
   
In April this year, the vessel made a stop in Hong Kong during its homebound voyage after China's 40th Antarctic expedition.
   
Boarding the ship, Lee felt a familiar sense of pride. To her, "Xuelong" was like an old friend. She first saw "Xuelong" in 1996, when the vessel made a stop in Hong Kong on its way to Antarctica. She boarded the icebreaker in 1999, when she spent two months onboard as a student alongside many scientists. In 2004, when "Xuelong" made a stop in Hong Kong during China's 21st Antarctic expedition, she organized a series of welcoming events for the old friend.
   
This year, she has been more of a teacher, an educator. Together with members of the country's 40th Antarctic scientific expedition team, she shared polar research and exploration experiences with students in Hong Kong.
   
For Lee, the adventure of environmental protection and education never ends. While there will be obstacles in the journey, nature will be her guide.
   
"There's so much environmental protection work to be done. We need to learn, learn from nature, and see how nature needs us to help it," she said.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Hong Kong, China.
(XHTV)