An advanced expedition group to Antarctica was made from February 18th to March 5th 2013 as a rehearsal of the coming expedition in November. The details of every aspect were corroborated and performed during the February trip in order to assure the smoothness of the official events in November.

The advance group of Antarctic Forum consisted of 29 leaders and elites from a wide variety of fields of foreign affairs, academics, economy, finance, arts and media, led by Mr. Jianmin Wu, the former Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former China's ambassador to France. During this expedition, agreements were reached regarding the objectives, mission and positioning of Antarctic Forum.

Members started their trip from Beijing Shanghai or Guangzhou, after meeting up with each other in Doha, Qatar, members are then arrived in the Capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires. On February 19^th Ambassador Hengmin Yin and other official of the Chinese Embassy in Argentina met the Advance Group in the embassy in Buenos Aires. After a short break, the Advance Group flew to Ushuaia, where the group went aboard “Silver Ocean” and started their cruise trip heading to Antarctic Peninsula. The voyage went through the widest strait, known as the “Roaring Forties”—Drake Passage. After more than 40 hours sailing, the group finally arrived Antarctica. Members enjoyed adventures of watching penguins, seals, and indulging the Paradise Harbor, and even swimming in the ice water. Voyage went through spectacular channels and bays of icebergs so that members were able to enjoy breathtaking waterways, glaciers, icebergs and rugged mountains.

The magnificent views of Antarctica caught every member’s imagination and inspired their thoughts at the world’s end which is far from the civilization. Social identity was discharged and so did the entanglement. Members had an in-depth communication. During the "Antarctic Dialogue" and "Antarctic Night Talk", constructive suggestions were made to the Antarctic Declaration and the arrangements for official events on the Antarctic Forum.

The Advance Group had a few of Think-Tank meetings regarding the organization structure, the mode of operation, the mission, the Articles and the publicity. In depth and creative studies were made. There were 4 themed speech were presented: China’s diplomatic strategy made by Jianmin Wu and Feng Zhu; The Third Industrial Revolution by Min Tang and Xiaolei Zuo; China’s Economic and Trade Relations with the World made by Yuyan Zhang, Guijun Lin and Alexander Zhang and Thinking and Sharing of Communication made by Ruiming Yang. Besides, a conference call also made with the scholars from Columbia University.

It was Chinese Traditional Lantern Festival on February 24^th during the trip, the group had a warm and loving party together with other travelers on the voyage. Artists gave a brilliant performance made the night a unforgettable one.