Guards battle isolation, danger to protect border

Officers at a secluded post in the southwest patrol rugged terrain to stop smugglers. Zou Shuo reports from Nujiang, Yunnan.

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of stories about China's border patrol guards, focusing on the challenges they face and their work to keep the country safe, prevent trafficking of drugs and people, and maintain friendly relations with their counterparts in neighboring countries.

For the past 19 years, Li Xiaojun has worked as a control officer on the China-Myanmar border in Nujiang Lisu autonomous prefecture, Yunnan province.