The Journey of Discovery has finally arrived in Dunhuang, China and the One Millionth Discovery expedition met up with the China Exploration & Research Society (CERS), one of Land Rover's humanitarian and conservation partners.

Dunhuang is a city in northwestern Gansu province, Western China. It was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road, containing the Crescent Lake and Mingsha Shan ‑ the name for the sound of the wind whipping off the dunes aka 'the singing sand phenomenon'. In ancient times, Dunhuang was actually the centre of trade between China and its western neighbours.

Led by CERS, the expedition crew drew up near the common boundary of Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang, the historical city Dunhuang containing the world‑famous Mogao Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Together, they explored the Mogao Caves ‑ a shrine of Buddhist art treasures, 25km (15.5miles) from downtown Dunhuang on the eastern slope of Mingsha Shan. Commonly known as the 'Caves of a Thousand Buddhas', the statues are stacked five stories high, some reaching up to 50 metres and approximately 735 caves.

Mark Cameron, Land Rover Global Brand Experience Director said: "We are delighted that CERS is able to join the One Millionth Discovery expedition here in Dunhuang, which started some 41 days ago in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

"This impressive replication of the original and first 1950's overland journey fully embodies the energy and spirit of real life adventurers. CERS possess the same free spirit for cultural and conservation preservation, as well as geographic discoveries using their Land Rovers ‑ a truly remarkable ambassador."

Founder of CERS and renowned explorerWong How Mansaid: "Dunhuang has been one of our centres since 1994, with the CERS team visiting twice in the last couple of years. This encompassed projects in the Qilian Mountains and the Wild Yak some 150km to its north, as well as the Arjin Mountain Nature Reserve in Xinjiang.

"Our fleet of nine Land Rovers ‑ a mixture of Defender and Discovery vehicles ‑ has been absolutely invaluable to this kind of conservation preservation work, in such remote and terrain‑challenged areas of China.

"We also have multiple projects in nearby Xinjiang including the Asiatic Beaver research and the Tibetan Antelope project, to both the north and south respectively, of the One Millionth Expedition route.

"I have also written an article about Dunhuang and nearby Grotto caves for Readers and Architectural Digest, as well as Asia Magazine, shortly after my first visit in 1979. The Silk Road route has been CERS' key stomping ground on studies of Islam in China, basis to a book published in London (2011)." 

The One Millionth Discovery expedition team also brought a piece of Birmingham with them ‑ and presented to CERS Founder Wong How Man ‑ a scaled reproduction of the CERS Discovery artwork created by PopBangColour's Ian Cook from the 'Land Rover In Action Exhibition' event at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) last year.

Land Rover recently celebrated eight years of partnership with China's 'greatest living explorer' and fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) ‑ Wong How Man. He has expanded his exploration work to conservation of some of China's most endangered natural and cultural heritage. Wong famously led CERS expeditions that pinpointed the sources of the Yangtze (2005), the Mekong (2007) and the Yellow River (2008). 

                                                            ‑   ENDS ‑

 Media Enquiries:

• WaiLo Li, Press Officer for Land Rover Global Humanitarian & Conservation Partnerships +44 (0)7557847561 or wli@jaguarlandrover.com

 JaguarLandRover's media website: http://newsroom.jaguarlandrover.com

Notes to Editors:

• CERS is one of Land Rover's humanitarian and conservation partners and celebrates a quarter century of exploration in 2011.
• Founded in 1986, China Exploration & Research Society (CERS) explores remote regions of China, conducts multi‑disciplinary research, conserves nature and culture and educates through the dissemination of its results and findings.
• CERS have a total of nine project sites including; Zhongdian Centre, Tai Tam Research Centre, Tibetan Mastiff Kennel, Tibetan Nunnery, Black‑Necked Crane Museum, Burmese Cat Café, Yak Cheese Site, Hainan Hongshui Site, Tea House Clinic and Exploration Museum.  For more info, please visit: www.cers.org.hk

• In 2011, the focus of CERS' summer expedition was to reach the Salween River source, a geographic undertaking that has evaded geographers and scientists for decades. View video here http://bit.ly/zd6hi2

• CERS' latest wildlife projects include researching the Tibetan Antelope calving ground at the Arjin Mountain Nature Reserve, an extremely remote region of Xinjiang, fringing upon the Tibetan plateau, as well as the rare and exotic breeds of; the Asiatic Beaver, Wild Yak, Black‑necked Crane and Musk Deer.

• CERS' educational contribution has included hosting a 30 summer interns students, stemming from secondary school to university level. Students have come from a diverse background‑ including students from; Eton, Choate, Taft, as well those from more deprived settings within China and Hong Kong.

• The CERS' caving teams were recently featured on a CCTV 10 Beijing, a major state television science channel, for discovering of a new species of cave‑dwelling blind fish and there are plans for four further caving expeditions in 2012. CCTV Channel 12 primetime will be airing three new half‑hour episodes on a variety of CERS' projects and expanding into full‑hour slots for three episodes in 2012. 

• Cultural preservation is a key focus for CERS ‑ the teams have preserved 15 traditional thatch‑roofed houses of the Li minority people of Hainan Islandin southern China, in support of the Lisu Hill Tribe community. They have also successfully saved one of the world's last remaining timber courtyard houses of the Lisu hunting/collecting tribe of remote Yunnan Province in southwest China. Their future plans will include beekeeping research, a pressing issue worldwide.
• The Land Rover In Action Exhibition event took place at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) in November 2011 and showcased the invaluable work of the Global Partners and their numerous projects utilizing Land Rover's all‑terrain vehicles, stretching across the four corners of the world.  CERS Founder Wong How Man is also a fellow of Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).
• PopBangColour artist Ian Cook is a UK‑based radio‑controlled car artist and created the CERS 'live' artwork at the 'Land Rovers In Action' exhibition. He is part of the award‑winning campaign 'Ultimate Destinations' by Jaguar Land Rover careers  (www.jaguarlandrovercareers.com) and have been featured on BBC programmes such as; Top Gear and The One Show. For more info, please visit:  www.popbangcolour.com