Poster hero of Beijing police

A Hollywood blockbuster-like poster of Beijing "Anti-terrorism Elite". (File photo/Chinanews.com)

A nationwide contest organized by Ministry of Public Security and the state-run CCTV finished on Tuesday with 10 officers named as "China' s most popular police".

Vice-Captain Cao Zhigang, of the Counter-terrorism Unit (CTU) of the Beijing Public Security Bureau, was among the 10 winners for his "fearless contribution in the frontline to fighting serious crime".

Cao was already famous two weeks earlier when he and his team featured on large posters in Beijing subway stations.

Designed like Hollywood blockbuster posters, they have the banner "Anti-terrorism Elite" at the bottom. Cao and his team are seen bearing assault rifles, wearing bulletproof vests, helmets and goggles. He stands in the middle, looking strong and tough, with calm eyes looking forward, "which makes me feel safe", as some netizens commented.

This 43-year-old has faced 423 kidnappers and shot dead three of them, and rescued 170 hostages since joining the force in 1992. He has a 100-percent settlement rate for all hostage cases he has dealt with since 2006.

In February 2004, Cao faced one of his most challenging cases, when a gang kidnapped two hostages, including TV star Wu Ruofu, and held them captive in a small room.

"It was as loud as a thunderbolt," recalls Wu, describing the sudden smashing down of the door and windows. The hostages had given up hope when Cao and his SWAT team stormed in and overpowered the criminals.

"I was totally shocked. All I remember is Cao Zhigang came to get me and held me tight," Wu says. He knew Cao did that to protect him from the kidnappers who had grenades and other explosives.

In three standoffs in Beijing in May 2004, August 2004 and November 2006 respectively, Cao was posted as a sniper and saved the hostages with clean shots. He won fame among his colleagues as "the three-shot legend".

But Cao prefers to forget those cases: "I hate to pull the trigger and kill. You have to terminate one life to save another."

One suspect he remembers very clearly: "He was only about 20 years old. So young, he should have been doing something else."

Saving hostages is more important than killing kidnappers. "We are not trained to kill. Our goal is to save hostages and settle problems peacefully. Killing is not the best result."

Jackie Chan's character, Zhong Wen, in the movie "Police Story 2013" is based on Cao. Director Ding Sheng followed Cao's team for more than three months as they dealt with seven hostage cases.

After an explosion in Tiananmen Square on Oct. 28, 2013, Cao was moved from criminal investigations to the CTU.

Now his office is on a hotel roof in downtown Beijing. He has more men in his team, but even more emergencies to deal with.

His calendar is always full. New Year's Day, Spring Festival, annual meetings of the national legislature and political consultative conference, Workers' Day ... All these big events are now potential terrorist targets.

"It's different from common crime. You faced one or several criminals before, now you face terrorist organizations," he says.

The government requires the CTU to respond within one minute in 14 downtown areas of Beijing. "Every second counts," says Cao, who is on 24-hour emergency call.

"We are walking on a knife edge. In the past we fought criminals to save a person or a family. Now we fight terrorists to save our country."

His colleague Liu Guochang remembers how Cao once said his biggest wish was to turn off his mobile phone and "find somewhere no one else can find and stay for a couple of days, thinking nothing and doing nothing."

He returns once a year at most to his hometown in Changzhi, north China's Shanxi Province, about 600 kilometers from Beijing - and stays for just a day.

His grandmother who cared him most died in July. Cao rushed back the day before her body was cremated. He stayed beside her for one last night.

As a child out with his grandmother, he once saw a policewoman stop a thief in a market, and the crowd applauded to show their gratitude.

"I said to my grandma, I will become a policeman and be a hero."