Second Shenzhou-17 astronaut touches on ground

Astronaut Tang Shengjie was the second to leave the return capsule of the Shenzhou-17 spaceship, after the module landed safely at the designated landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Tuesday.

The return capsule, carrying astronauts Tang Hongbo -- the mission commander, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin, touched on the ground at the Dongfeng landing site in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 17:46 Beijing Time (09:46 GMT), according to the China Manned Space Agency.

"Returning to the beautiful Earth after six months, I'm so happy and excited, and I'd like to thank my powerful motherland and thank all space program workers who have struggled successively generation by generation. During this mission, led by our commander, we cooperated closely with the ground teams and worked together to complete all designated tasks. For me, the past six months were also a journey of study and exploration, and I gained a lot of valuable experience. The starry sky is a vast universe, and our exploration knows no limit. I think realizing the dream of space flight is not an end but a starting point. Next, I'll fully cooperate with our staff in post-mission recovery and engage in follow-up training in the best shape," he said.

Tang Shengjie and the other two crew members of the spaceship will later be transferred to Beijing, where they will undergo post-mission medical evaluation, recovery and debriefing.

The homecoming of the Shenzhou-17 crew follows the completion of a six-month mission and in-orbit crew rotation with the newly-arrived crew members of the Shenzhou-18 mission.

Since blasting off for the Chinese space station last October, the Shenzhou-17 crew had witnessed the arrival of the Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft, performed two extravehicular activities, carried out 84 in-orbit experiments with more than 200 samples produced, and have brought back over 400 material samples retrieved after being exposed to space outside the station's Wentian lab module.

During their second spacewalk, the astronauts did repair work on the solar panels of the space station's core module, which had been subject to minor damage by space debris. This marked China's first-ever extravehicular repair mission.

The Shenzhou-17 spaceship, which was launched on Oct 26 last year, initiated its journey back to Earth after separating from the space station combination at 08:43 Beijing Time (00:43 GMT) on Tuesday.

Second Shenzhou-17 astronaut touches on ground

Second Shenzhou-17 astronaut touches on ground

Second Shenzhou-17 astronaut touches on ground

Second Shenzhou-17 astronaut touches on ground

Second Shenzhou-17 astronaut touches on ground

Second Shenzhou-17 astronaut touches on ground

The six-day 2024 China Graduate Fashion Week, drawing to it over 1,000 young fashion designers from across the country, concluded in Beijing on Monday, with 62 young designers from 54 art schools of higher education presenting their graduation projects featuring the autumn-winter trend.

At the event, the fusion of traditional Chinese elements and modern design concepts shows students' boundless creativity and their aspirations for the future of fashion.

The closing ceremony saw ten students from universities including the Tsinghua University, the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology and the Dalian Polytechnic University winning the 29th China Fashion Young Talent Award. "I name my creation after a famous ancient Chinese opera known as "Sweet Dream in the Garden" since it gives me a lot of inspiration. I adopted various color elements from it. I want to show the audience that traditional elements and modern dresses including Western suits can be well integrated with each other," said Chen Lingxin, a student from the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, who won the 29th China Fashion Young Talent Award.

"Designers born after the year 2000 never follow trends. They prefer individuality. They are all active thinkers and sensitive observers. They know well how to express their unique personality. This is a form of contemporary fashion," said Li Yingjun, head of the Department of Textile, Fashion design at the Tsinghua University.

Aspiring designers capture mood, spirit of time at 2024 Graduate Fashion Week