Seeing a rocket launch to space is not just something you watch but something you feel.
Even from some distance away, the impact is immense, you can feel the reverberations in your chest and you cannot hear the person next to you.
It’s hard not to be impressed.
For the hundreds of people who had gathered to watch the Shenzhou-20 crew launch in Jiuquan, on the edge of the Gobi Desert in northwestern China, they were not just impressed but gleeful too.
There was a deafening hush as the countdown began, followed by screams of joy as it disappeared into the atmosphere.
Such is the sense of pride that China is showing the world what it can do.
Rocket launch as it happened
This launch might be relatively routine in space terms – three taikonauts (the Chinese term for astronaut) headed to China’s space station as part of a scheduled six-month rotation.
But it is all building on a space programme with staggering ambition, proceeding at a rapid pace.
The three taikonauts
It is quite a journey to get to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre.
We travelled three and a half hours by bus from the nearest town, mile upon mile of flat dusty desert, just the occasional settlement and military base on the way.
When there, the base is a huge facility, a fully functioning complex in the middle of the desert for space staff who live and work there, complete with a school, restaurants and even a gift shop.
China’s Long March 2F rocket, carrying the…
