Solar Impulse Sun-Powered Plane Lands in China

Solar Impulse 2 landed in China Tuesday morning after a 20-hour flight from Myanmar, completing the fifth leg of its landmark journey around the globe powered solely by the energy of the sun.

Flight director, Raymond Clerc, said the journey from Mandalay to Chongqing was the most difficult of the five stages so far, Deutsche Welle reported.

"We are tired but we are still very, very happy to be in Chongqing," mission engineer Michael Anger wrote on the project's website.

Solar Impulse 2, part of a project to promote green energy, has more than 17,000 solar cells.

Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard landed the revolutionary plane in Chongqing airport early on Tuesday morning local time.

It is the first aircraft able to fly day and night without fuel, propelled solely by the sun's energy. It has a wingspan of 72 meters, wider than a Boeing 747, but weighs just 2.3 tons. Its average speed is 70 kilometers per hour.

Solar Impulse 2 began its journey in Abu Dhabi on March 9 and made four stops before arriving in China.

It flies next to the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing before heading to Hawaii. It is due back in Abu Dhabi in August after its journey of 12 stages.