Fighting the cold

PLA marines endure a monthlong training exercise, and pass with flying colors

More than 1,000 soldiers and officers from the PLA marines took part in a winter drill in the Shenyang Military Command's Taonan training base from Jan 8 to Feb 6. During the drill, troops experienced extremely cold weather at the base, which is in the Horqin Grassland in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Despite the harsh conditions, the marines and their equipment-which included 200 vehicles, amphibious armored tanks and weapons passed the stringent tests they were put through. The exercise ended with training goals accomplished and the marines' combat capability improved.