Grease, sweat are badge of honor for captain

For Senior Captain Lou Fuqiang, sweat and grease have become his personal decoration as he comes to terms with operating the People's Liberation Army navy's largest ship, the aircraft carrier Liaoning.

"When my team was formed, none of us had experience and knowledge of how to operate such a large ship, which is the biggest vessel in the navy," said Lou, 42, head of electric and mechanical facilities for China's first aircraft carrier. "So we had no other choice but to explore by ourselves."

Exploring the craft of operating and maintaining such a large ship, which was commissioned to the PLA navy in September 2012, means the engineering chief must lead his crew members in familiarizing themselves with the equipment.