Food for thought for land lubbers

Fresh water, vegetables and fruit are the things PLA navy sailors miss most during escort missions, according to those who've served overseas.

"We were served a lot of fish and meat at every meal during the mission, but they didn't taste too good because they'd been stored in a refrigerator for a long time," said Zhang Hua, a nurse at the PLA No 404 Hospital in Weihai, Shandong province. "We ate meat every day, and I still feel a little nauseous at the sight of refrigerated meat."

In 2013, Zhang and three doctors from the hospital were members of the 14th escort mission, which lasted more than seven months.