About face

Many Beijing universities, including Peking, stage the military trainings in special suburban centers. They stock them with medical supplies and bring university doctors.

The students' rallying calls and singing can be heard hundreds of meters from the centers.

Peking University's center can accommodate 5,000 students.

"Flu and sunstroke are the most common problems," trainer Du Shujiang says.

"But most of the students enjoy the training."

China began student military training in select universities in 1955 to ensure a supply of reserve officers. Today, it is compulsory for all college students and comprises two sections - drills and military theory. Students must complete the training in their first two years of university.

It usually involves marching, standing at attention, boxing and marksmanship.

Training has evolved to become an introduction to university life that teaches students about such values as discipline and teamwork.

Liu did the training on campus and didn't learn marksmanship but says it was thrilling.

"It was exhausting but wonderful," she says.

"We learned to care for one another and overcome physical challenges I never imagined I could."

Liu and her classmates hiked 20 kilometers carrying 5 kilograms. Quilts are often used as weights.

"I'd never walked so far," Liu says.

"I felt too tired to continue several times, but my classmates kept encouraging me. I was amazed I finished."

Students also learn disciplined cleanliness and have to keep their dorms as tidy and sanitary as a military camp.

"We've reformed the training to be more useful to students' lives," Du says.

"We used to spend evenings drilling on a playground. Now, we organize lectures on such topics as emergency preparedness and self-defense."

Liu also found the trainers to be friendly and approachable.

Instructor Xu Yao shares tips with his students, such as how to do better at the dorm cleanliness inspections by stuffing books into the quilt to create a cube.

The 20-year-old has been a drill instructor for two years and is also a junior at Beijing Anti-Chemical Command.

"It wasn't easy to know at first how tough I should be on the students," he says, smiling.

"They aren't training for the army. They're simply learning life lessons."

The friendships between training officers and students have lasted after Tsinghua University's training ended a month ago.

The strict yet warm training officers are the first people many students meet and spend time with after starting university. They often become these students' first friends at school.

Liu says she and her roommates still call or instant message their trainers nearly every day.

Liu's instructor Liu Dekun says: "They share some of their feelings with the training officers, most of whom are the same age. Other things they are reluctant to share with us."

Every student in Liu's class of fine arts majors drew a portrait of their commander.

"It was the most amazing gift ever," Liu Dekun says.

The students also visited the officers during the National Day holiday.

"They care for us like elder brothers and share their life experiences with us," she says.

"I sometimes miss our training days."

Contact the writers at zhangyue@chinadaily.com.cn.