KUNMING (April 13) XINHUA - China will send an expedition to remove garbage from around the mountaineering base camp on Mount Qomolangma, also known as the Everest overseas, the world's highest mountain, on the Sino-Nepalese border, on June 5, the World Environment Day.

The expedition, organized by a Yunnan travel service, a Beijing-based company and the China Association for Mountaineering and Exploration, will erect a monument on the mountain to mark their efforts and call for public awareness of the importance of environmental protection.

As more and more climbers tackle the challenge of the world's highest mountain, an increasing amount of non-biodegradable waste materials is piling up on both the southern and northern slopes. And environmental protection on the mountain has become an issue of international concern.

Some of China's top veteran mountaineers who have climbed Mount Qomolangma, including Wang Fuzhou, Goinbo and Pandog, scientists and reporters will join scientists on the expedition.

The 50-odd members of the expedition, in two teams, will leave this provincial capital of Yunnan May 18. One team will take the Yunnan-Tibet Highway to reach Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and the other will fly to Lhasa via Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province.

The expedition will stay on the mountain for four days, during which time 5,000 commemorative envelopes, postmarked by the world's highest post office, at the base camp, will be issued to mark the expedition.

Other activities will include release of a hot-air balloon, an amateur radio station broadcast on the mountain for the first time and a thorough check of the local environment.

The Yunnan Exploration Travel Agency, the chief organizer of the expedition, caters for overseas travelers who come to China for exploration tours. Founded in April 1995, it has received more than 50 travel groups from Japan, the United States, Britain, France, Switzerland and Singapore in the past year.