The crew were forced to stop at 6,200 meters on the highest peak of the Purog Kangri Glacier due to the harsh conditions.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Rao had a personal impetus behind this challenging project, which also marked her first foray into these little-know highlands with an average elevation of 5,000 meters above sea level.

When she was five years old, her father Rao Jianfeng became fascinated with climbing, and he went on to successfully scale 10 of the world's 14 highest peaks around 8,000 meters high.

But the accomplished climber, who had by this time become a renowned figure in Chinese adventure circles, was suddenly shot dead by a group of terrorists in Pakistan on June 22, 2013.

At age of 49, Rao Jianfeng was then at a high-altitude mountaineering base camp in Gilgit-Baltistan, the northernmost administrative territory of Pakistan, and was planning to climb Nanga Parbat - the world's ninth highest mountain at 8,126 meters above sea level.

"I heard the news and couldn't believe it. I kept reading posts on Sina Weibo (the Chinese micro blog) until I could confirm it was true" recalls Rao Zijun during an interview with China Daily.

The young woman believed her trip to Purog Kangri would be a good way to understand her father's enthusiasm for mountaineering as well as a way to come to terms with her grief.

Besides, she had once discussed with her father about shooting a documentary about his climbing adventures when he was still alive.