The gun salute battalion of the Beijing Armed Police Corps is rehearsing hard as the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China draws near.

A total of 56 guns stand in two lines. As soon as Geng Qing'an, who is in command of the battalion, shouts his order, the 112 policemen present arms. They have to complete the moves of unbolting the guns, taking the ammunition and then breeching it in synchronization in three seconds. This is a scene which can be seen almost every day in the battalion's camp.

The battalion was established in the early March, 1984. Then it had only eight manually-operated guns. The guns the battalion now uses are sixth-generation models, all are automatic. Firing intervals can be easily regulated.

"The new guns are an encouragement to the police officers, but they also entail tougher training requirements," said Geng.

The armed police have to unbolt a thousand times a day, and kneel down in the firing position another thousand times.

The battalion has fired official salutes more than 600 times since its inception. It had been present on occasions such as the 35th, 40th, the 45th and 50th National Day celebrations.

It also fired a salute at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.

(Xinhua News Agency September 13, 2009)