Guard of Honor puts best foot forward to commemorate return

It is 11 am. The sun is blazing. Waves of heat lick the cement ground, causing images to waver from afar. It is quiet. Even the grass planted on both sides of the parade ground is still, as if too hot to move.

A troop of 210 soldiers, clad in green uniforms and caps, stands tall in the middle of the parade ground. Their left legs, straight with toes pointed, are lifted at a fixed angle. Sweat, running in rivulets, rolls down their foreheads, cheeks, necks and disappears under their collars to reappear on their uniforms, front and back.

These soldiers are the Guard of Honor of the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison.