272 division and regiment officers serve as privates

On the morning of January 19, 2012, the No.5 Company of a regiment of the Beijing Garrison started its morning exercise. In the formation, a soldier of over 40 years of age wearing a private rank caught reporters' eyes.

The old soldier is Chang Qinghua, deputy director of the Personnel Division of the Political Department of the Beijing Military Area Command (MAC). He is among the 30 senior colonels and colonels from the leading organs of the Beijing MAC who were organized to go to grassroots units stationed in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei Province, Shanxi Province and Inner Mongolia from January 10 to 31, 2012. They will eat, live, work, exercise, have entertaining activities and celebrate the Spring Festival together with soldiers.

According to Zou Yanxing, deputy head of the Organization Division of the Political Department of the Beijing MAC, in order to learn about the actual difficulties and needs of grassroots soldiers as well as the situation of daily combat readiness, political education and military training, the Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) of the Beijing MAC organized 272 leading officers at division and brigade levels in the leading organs of the MAC to go down to companies and serve as common soldiers for 20 days during the Spring Festival period.

These old soldiers who are above 40-year-old on average will live in squads, wear private rank, bring their own daily necessities, pay food expense according to relevant standard and participate in daily work, study, exercise and life of the company in strict accordance with the standards set up for soldiers. When the "serve-as-private" period is over, every one of these officers must write a paper on what he has learnt and understood, report to higher authorities and offer advice on how the leading organs of the MAC better serve grassroots units.