NAY PYI TAW/MANDALAY/KUNMING, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese rescue workers in Myanmar's earthquake zones have been racing against death, braving heat and the smell of dead bodies, to win back more lives within the 72 hours of the best rescue time.

At 05:00 local time on Sunday, a rescue medical team from China's Yunnan Province, together with local rescue forces, recovered an elderly man trapped for nearly 40 hours under the rubble of a hospital in Myanmar's capital Nay Pyi Taw.

This is the first person rescued by this rescue team after it arrived in the earthquake-stricken area of Myanmar.

The 37-member rescue team set off from Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province in southwestern China, at about 06:30 Beijing time on Saturday. Immediately after landing in Yangon, they headed to the hard-hit city of Nay Pyi Taw.

At 18:30 local time on Saturday, the rescue team arrived in Nay Pyi Taw. At 05:00 local time on Sunday, they pulled out the first survivor from the rubble, just one day from the team's departure time.

An advance team of China's Blue Sky Rescue arrived in Mandalay early on Sunday, another hard-hit city in Myanmar. The team members are stepping up the investigation and assessment of a local hotel, among other disaster relief sites.

Xinhua's reporters in Mandalay bathed in the high temperature of more than 38 degrees Celsius, with the body odor smelling strong and flies clouding the scenes.

Rescue workers from China and Myanmar have been stepping up efforts to collect vaccines and make preparations in case of any epidemic. The Blue Sky Rescue's advance team told Xinhua that a small charter plane carrying more rescue teams from Shenzhen and other regions in China will arrive in Mandalay on Sunday.

Meanwhile, another Chinese rescue squad, China Search and Rescue Team, was en route to Mandalay on Sunday and was expected to arrive there later in the day.