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.

"The research station was red — bright, glorious Chinese red — in a vast blanket of white. Snow and ice were everywhere," she recalls.

"I felt as excited as a bride arriving at a distant new home," she recalls. "I vowed in my heart that I would never let this land down."