A special forces soldier uses an anenometer to gauge the effect of wind speed on shooting during an exercise in July. [Photo provided to China Daily]

After once staying in the same position for almost four hours, he recalled, "I couldn't get up. It felt like my bones were stuck together. I had to move my fingers and toes first and stand up slowly."

Still, this is not the worst situation he has been in.

Sometimes he is ordered to use his left hand to hold his rifle in a specific position, an exercise to improve his reaction time.

"My left hand was cramped," he said. "I had to use my right to force it open."

In the evening, Cui has various exercises to make his fingers more flexible and instill patience, including drilling holes in a grain of rice, move glass balls with chopsticks and concentrating on a dot made by a ballpoint pen 4 to 5 meters away on a wall.

He said he can drill as much as six holes in a grain of rice after five months of practice, although he could not do one in the beginning.

This is, however, only the beginning. Three months' training to improve shooting skills and more than 40 days' tactical training followed.

To help them better grip their sniper rifles, some soldiers were asked to grab a baby chicken in their hands without hurting it or letting it escape.

Once or twice a week, they have to run 3 to 5 km and then drop to the ground and shoot immediately. Sometimes, they had to creep forward under cover as slowly as possible so that "enemies" could not see them.

Cui said he once moved no more than 80 meters in two and a half hours.

The shooting exercise was often done with soldiers from other units diverting their attention. Worms were sometimes thrown at them.

Entertainment for the soldiers is limited and they can only enjoy a movie on Tuesday evenings.

The soldiers, however, derive a lot of satisfaction from frequent contests, from which they can monitor their progress in training.

These contests may be held at any time in each company, said Wei Faxiang, a college graduate who joined the regiment in 2007.

Soldiers will also participate in contests every three months in the regiment and contests are held usually once a year in Jinan Military Region, the regiment's home, Wei added.

Soldiers have a very strong sense of honor, Wei said.

Officers at the regiment are not spared and have to prove their worth as much as the men under their command.

All officers of the regiment can handle at least 10 weapons.

"There are special force soldiers but no special officers who can be excluded from training and contests," said Lyu Bixiang, head of the unmanned aerial vehicles team.

"It's peacetime, but nobody knows what will happen tomorrow. Once a war happens, all of us, both soldiers and officers, should be ready and be brave to walk to the front line," Lyu said.

Photos: Training exercise of People's Liberation Army