Three Taiwanese scientists joined a Chinese expedition to Antarctica for the first time Sunday, aboard China's polar research vessel the Xuelong that is also carrying researchers from Australia and Russia. The three Taiwanese scientists are Hsu Ting-wei from Cheng Shiu University in the southern county of Kaohsiung, and Kuo Fu-wen and Lin Chia-hsing from the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium in Taiwan's southern county of Pingtung. The team will focus on marine biological research, according to China's Xinhua News Agency. The icebreaker Xuelong left Shanghai's Pudong port around 10 a.m. carrying 251 scientists, workers and logistics staff from China, Taiwan, Australia and Russia on an 180-day research expedition to the South Pole. It is China's 26th scientific expedition to Antarctica since its first one in 1894, and its largest in terms of the number of personnel on board the research ship. The scientists are expected to complete 59 research programs during the expedition -- the highest number to be attempted by China on a single mission, the Xinhua report said. During the trip, two exploration teams will be sent inland. One will head to China's Kunlun Station located at Dome A, the highest point on the continent at 4,093 meters above sea level, where more research equipment will be installed for astronomical observation. The other team will be sent to the Grove Mountains some 400 kilometers away from the Zhongshan Station to collect meteorolites and conduct other scientific research. From 1998 to 2006, China has made four trips to the Grove Mountains for scientific research and has collected 9,834 meteorolites, the third largest collection in the world. 