"Look up!" Those words, called out by the crowds on the ground, lingered with pilot Li Xiao after he navigated the Y-20 transport plane over the Giza pyramids at the Egypt International Airshow in September 2024. Below, spectators craned their necks and cheered as the colossal aircraft — nicknamed "Kunpeng" after a mythical Chinese bird — soared above one of the world's oldest civilizations. For Li, the moment transcended aviation; it symbolized the remarkable journey of China's air force.
The airshow was a milestone for Li and his regiment. The Egyptian air force commander personally invited the Y-20 to perform on the opening day — a rare honor for a foreign aircraft. Li later learned that the plane's steep banks, high angles of attack and low-speed maneuvers drew a standing ovation from foreign military personnel in the control tower. "Looking up, we saw a domestically built military aircraft making a brilliant debut on foreign soil — looking at the confidence of a great power's air force," Li said.
After the show, Li picked up a small stone as a memento of Egypt's ancient civilization, a habit he and his crew have developed. Every mission feels different, they say, so they collect small souvenirs as witnesses to their flight paths. Yet it was another kind of keepsake that carried the most profound emotional weight.
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In December 2022, Li flew a Y-20 to bring home a group of soldiers returning from a remote South China Sea island outpost. A squad leader who had served 12 years on the island told Li: "Before, when I went home on leave, I took a ship — it took days each way. Now you're flying us home in the Kunpeng. I'm excited, but also regretful — excited to see this place from the sky, regretful that I won't be returning to defend it."
The soldier handed Li a plastic box filled with pebbles and colorful shells collected over the years, which he planned to arrange into a map of China. Inspired by his devotion, Li and his comrades later arranged their own collection of shells into a map of the South China Sea, now displayed on their unit's shelf.
Perhaps Li's most solemn missions are those bringing home the remains of Chinese People's Volunteers martyrs from the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53). During one such flight in September 2022, Typhoon Muifa battered the Liaodong Peninsula. As the Y-20 approached Shenyang, Liaoning province, low clouds and dense rain engulfed the sky. A J-20 fighter escort radioed, asking whether to descend. "No matter how low the clouds are, we will descend — we must salute our martyrs with the most perfect posture," Li recalled the pilot in command of that mission replying. The formation broke through the clouds at just 200 meters, performing a low-altitude flyover in a final salute.
After landing, with rain lashing the tarmac, the crew stood in formation inside the cargo hold, saluted the flag-draped coffins, and said: "Heroes, you are home."
