From soldiers to farmers

A special force is celebrating its achievements in the tough environment of Xinjiang, where it has built farms and homes, and maintained stability, as Cui Jia in Urumqi and Gao Bo in Shihezi report.

Zhuo Bingzhe vividly remembers how he joined the People's Liberation Army in his hometown in Northwest China's Shanxi province 65 years ago, and moved to the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region as a soldier. He also clearly remembers the day he was ordered to put down his gun and pick up a hoe to become a member of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, or XPCC, founded 60 years ago.

The 81-year-old, who still speaks with a heavy Shanxi accent, was just one of the 100,000-plus PLA soldiers who formed the Corps, which is also known as the Bingtuan. In October 1954, the central government decided to demobilize the troops in Xinjiang and set up arable and stock farms in the harsh environments of the Gobi Desert and the region's border areas.