Disclaimer. The narrative presented below are representative of my personal experience with the 2024 military training for BAID students. Other people may have different experiences. By the time you do the military training, the information may be outdated. There may be changes to the activities, and you may have a different experience. This narrative is for reference only.
This takes around 22 minutes to read in full.
Military Training? Military Training.
In China, all students entering Grade 10 must participate in a week of military training, and I was just about to get to Grade 10. In the days leading up to the training, I heard countless stories from others about their time at the camp, often filled with warnings and advice. To many, it seemed like military training was their “worst nightmare.” But was it really? It was August 24, and with this question in mind, I boarded the bus headed for the distant training camp on the outskirts of Beijing.
The journey was long, and we weren’t allowed to bring our phones—though most of us did, discreetly hidden away. Despite not knowing our exact location, we could tell we were nearing the camp. The sight of people in military uniforms and, finally, a massive gate marked with the words “Military Research Institute” made it clear: we had entered the realm of the military.
A man in military uniform boarded our bus. That’s one of the “drillmasters,” the people managing us for the next couple of days. Soon, we found ourselves on the rocky entrance field of the training camp. At the center of the field stood an enormous missile launcher, accompanied by a towering statue of Mao Zedong, his right hand outstretched. The sight of it all sparked excitement among everyone. We had arrived.
Outfits, Fainting, A Test of Obedience
Day 1, Saturday, August 24, 2024
As soon as we disembarked, the bus promptly left, leaving us exposed under the scorching sun before the statue of Mao Zedong. We were quickly divided into twelve “battalions” and lined up accordingly. The first six battalions were designated for boys, and the last six for girls. All students from BAID were placed into either the first or seventh battalion.
A medium-height, incredibly thin man approached us, dressed in a green military uniform with a belt bearing the letters “PLA” sculpted on it. This was our drillmaster. His expression was unusual, a mix of recklessness and ridicule, with his neck slightly slanted forward. He ordered us to line up and wait for the distribution of our uniforms.
At the very front stood the lead drillmaster, shouting constantly as if it was his natural way of speaking, though it came off as incredibly annoying. He called out our names one by one, and we were to step forward to collect our uniforms. Each of us received an outer coat, two inner tees, two pairs of trousers, a pair of quick-dry pants, a pair of shoes, two belts (one for the outer coat and one for the trousers), and a round military water bottle that made any water inside taste like a blend of steel and paint.
We were rounded up and directed to our dorms. The dorms were classic military style, with green quilts and beds so hard they left you with backaches after just one night.
Suddenly, the drillmasters began yelling outside, “Change into full military attire, now! You have 3 minutes!” Panic set in immediately. It was chaos. None of us knew how the inner belt worked, and we fumbled helplessly as the belt clips fell off. The military coat, supposedly new, carried an ominous scent—a mix of sour sweat and chemicals. I also noticed some bloodstains and an unknown liquid on the bed sheets. Oh, my god.
We stood under the blazing sun for what felt like an eternity, barely allowed to move. The drillmasters watched us closely, ready to launch into a prolonged scolding at the slightest twitch. Their language was harsh, often laced with profanities like “f**k you” and “you little pieces of s**t.” Before saying anything, we were forced to shout “reporting, sir!” The worst part, however, was lunch. We followed our usual routine—grabbing our meals and finding a table to sit and eat—only to be met with the drillmaster’s furious yell, “you b*tches, did I allow you to sit?” We soon learned that we had to wait for his command to take out the stools, then sit, and only then could we begin eating. Basically, they were training us to be obedient, to be slaves—in classical fashion.
I could hardly eat—partly because I was furious at what was happening, and partly because I was on the verge of fainting from the heat. Eventually, I did faint.
For the afternoon, I stayed in the camp’s medical room while everyone else continued their drills under the scorching sun. As my condition worsened, I was sent to a nearby hospital for rest (thankfully, I had medical coverage on my phone). Surprisingly enough, however, the drillmaster was pretty nice when I was chatting with him one-on-one, in sharp contrast to his fury-inducing “act” in front of everyone. That marked the end of the day for me.
Mountains, Camping, An Unexpected Twist
Day 2, Sunday, August 25, 2024
The second day was mountain day. After breakfast—again with the drillmaster’s commands dictating when we could sit—we retrieved our backpacks and prepared to climb the nearby mountain. Still feeling unwell, I chose to stay behind and ride up in a car instead. A few other girls, dealing with their periods, also opted for the car ride.
Once again, the drillmasters were yelling, this time screaming, “you f**king idiots, haven’t I told you to line up ten tents in a row?” The truth was, no one had told us that, and some rows were so narrow it was nearly impossible to fit even eight tents. When this was pointed out, the drillmaster barked, “well, now I’m f**king telling you—go put ten tents in a row.”
Obviously, we were all absolutely furious. The anger grew to the point where, when the head drillmaster barked at us to gather for yet another scolding session, some of us began threatening to cut his head open with bricks. People are tossing rocks already. The air was thick with anger and defiance as a tense face-off unfolded, the atmosphere crackling with the threat of violence. The head drillmaster suddenly seemed helpless, and he retreated. He ended up seeking protection from our school’s teachers.
We were brought up onto a hill, where we waited in the scorching heat for what felt like centuries. Finally, a school teacher arrived, a welcome contrast to the chaos. Thankfully, he wasn’t acting as wild as the drillmasters. He called on us to calm down, speaking in a measured tone that slowly diffused the tension. He explained that we were here to “eat bitterness”, and that this was simply how the military operated. His words, though somewhat resigned, brought a sense of grim acceptance among us. Yeah…
After lunch, as we wandered around the camp, we noticed a few makeshift rooms that had been set up. One in particular caught our attention—it was labeled “psychological counseling.” It was a curious sight, given everything we had been through. It seemed that, despite the harshness of the training, they had at least considered the toll it might take on us mentally.
After dinner, we settled into our tents for the evening. I was chatting with a friend, laughing and trying to make the best of the situation, when the sky began to darken. Suddenly, the first drops of rain started to fall, lightly at first, then steadily increasing. It was a downpour.
We were in a valley, and the rain only heightened our concern. It was the rainy season in Beijing, and this year had brought significantly more rain than usual—thanks to climate change. What if there was a mudslide? What if, in the middle of the night, we woke up to find ourselves sliding off the cliff? These thoughts raced through our minds, spreading panic like wildfire. People began scrambling to get out of the tents, desperate to return to the now surprisingly enticing safety of the dorms.
I was rather unmoved, hoping the rain would stay light and that we’d all be safe in our tents. I continued chatting with my friend, trying to ignore the growing downpour. Just as we were starting to get comfortable again, the head drillmaster’s voice cut through the sound of the rain, yelling, “Pack up your tents, and we’re leaving!” Oh, my god.
Songs, Shooting, A Ridiculous “Competition”
Day 3, Monday, August 26, 2024
The next day, it was still raining. After yesterday’s face-off, the drillmasters seemed a bit nicer. We began to suspect that both the harshness and kindness were part of a pre-scripted act. We were handed raincoats and rushed to the canteen for breakfast before returning to the dorms. There, we had a brief chat with our drillmaster, who revealed that most of them were university students on summer contracts. He confessed that he was also suffering—enduring little pay and sleepless nights.
The original activities planned for the morning were canceled due to the rain and replaced with a session to “learn to sing military songs.” The drillmaster played a few military songs and told us to listen and learn. I’m certain that he didn’t understand how learning a song actually works—simply listening to a song without seeing the lyrics definitely does not work. Surprisingly, though, many people already knew how to sing the first military song he taught: March of the Mighty Army (《强军战歌》). So, we ended up singing it over and over, not really learning anything.
The rain eased up a bit in the afternoon, so we were brought out to the training grounds for a few rather dull activities. However, one activity did catch my attention: “Gunfight!”—complete with an exclamation mark. We were led into a large, greenhouse-like structure where several sets of laser blasters and helmets awaited us. The drillmaster divided us into two teams, instructed us to put on the helmets (which were just as dirty inside and didn’t fit properly), and directed us to the “spawn points” of our respective teams. I thought, “fun fun fun!”
Within a minute, however, I had already exhausted my five “hearts” because my own teammates kept shooting at me. Ugh. The whole game didn’t seem to last even ten minutes, as most of us were “dead” by the one-minute mark, thanks to teammates shooting each other. Fun, but not quite. And to top it off, we didn’t even get a second round.
The “learn to sing military songs” activity culminated that night in a grand finale: the “song battle” event. The boys and girls were positioned on opposite sides of the training ground, pitted against each other to see who could sing the loudest. It was an awkward display of forced enthusiasm. We were only allowed to sing the military songs, most of which we hadn’t really learned. Each side had a drillmaster leading the chants, shouting cringeworthy phrases like “I won’t sing, I won’t sing—just to annoy you!” and “You shall sing, you shall sing, yet I shall not sing!” The drillmaster wrapped it up with a final sexist jab, “you boys can’t even f**king beat the girls in singing!” It seemed like he couldn’t speak without throwing in a few profanities.
The entire event felt more like an exercise in humiliation than a competition. In fact, the whole military training was an exercise in humiliation, in classical sexist Chinese fashion. Perfect.
Monotony, Crawling, A Key Signature
Day 4, Tuesday, August 27, 2024
The morning was clear, and we went through another uninteresting event. But in the afternoon, we were set to face the most dreaded challenge of all: crawling through the mud puddle.
This was the challenge that previous students had warned us about—the one that struck fear into everyone. One student had described it vividly: “imagine you’re Peppa Pig.”
Some of my dorm mates were a bit worried about what was coming, but most of us were actually excited, and that excitement peaked when we finally reached the infamous mud puddle. First of all, the “mud puddle” wasn’t exactly what we had imagined. It was more of a clear water puddle with just a bit of sand mixed in, far from the thick, messy mud we had feared. Also, it wasn’t just a simple crawl through the mud. The setup was more like an obstacle course, complete with climbing, running, and jumping challenges. Each class was competing for the best average time to complete the course. For once, we were actually going to do something fun.
And it was actually fun. Our class was the first to go among all the classes, and I had the honor of being the first to take on the course. I crawled, jumped, and dove into the puddle, craving the much-needed physical stimulus and the adrenaline rush. The fun, though short-lived, was a welcome change. By the end, we were all completely soaked, but it didn’t matter—we finally got to enjoy ourselves. At least for a moment, we were having a blast.
In China, students entering Grade 10 are required to complete military training. At night, we gathered around to sign a document that officially confirmed our completion of this obligation. It was titled “Confirmation of Completion of Basic Military Abilities Training for Students.” As we looked at the document, some of us hypothesized that this might be the key—if we got this signed, maybe we wouldn’t actually have to endure the rest of the grueling training. The thought of it provided a brief moment of amusement, even though we knew we’d still have to see it through. Right…?
After signing the document, all of us in the training camp gathered around a campfire for a night of songs and performances. It was filled with laughter and cheers as I screamed to cheer on the performing classmates.
My friends and I had originally planned to perform an English song, Waving Through The Window, but to our disappointment, the drillmaster rejected our request, saying the announcer couldn’t read English. We were incredibly upset. However, the mood took a surprising turn in the middle of the performances. The drillmasters suddenly rolled out a giant birthday cake, a gesture for everyone whose birthday was in August. The sight of the cake, shared among us all, added an unexpected layer of warmth to the evening. Despite the frustrations, in that moment, I actually felt a bit of warmth.
Sickness, Firefighting, A Final Goodbye
Day 5, Wednesday, August 28, 2024
I woke up to a terrible sore throat and a fully congested nose. I knew immediately that I was sick. What caused it? Hard to say. But I was pretty sure that crawling through that bacteria-filled mud puddle played a part. It could also have been the awful sanitary conditions—who knows what was lurking on those bed sheets? Or maybe it was just the fact that others around me were getting sick too, and I wasn’t spared.
We had fire escape training scheduled for the morning, but I quietly slipped away, afraid that pushing myself would only make my illness worse. The breakfast and lunch weren’t exactly appetizing, but I forced myself to eat because I felt constantly hungry and weak from the sickness. I went through two entire rolls of tissue just in the morning and guzzled down two bottles of water. None of it helped. My sore throat only seemed to worsen. That’s when it hit me: the obedience drills, the rude and assertive drillmasters—they weren’t the worst part of this experience. The real challenge was the pain of being sick in such harsh conditions. It overshadowed everything else.
My head was in a constant fog, and I couldn’t understand a single word the drillmaster was saying. By this point, on the final day, nobody really cared anymore—everyone was fed up, screw those drillmasters, who cares. I was so exhausted that I ended up lying down on the ground and drifting off to sleep for a few minutes, too tired to care about anything else.
I could hardly comprehend how I made it through the morning, but somehow, I did. Finally, we had one last lunch, packed up our belongings, and boarded the bus to leave. Before getting on, we shouted words of farewell, even wishing one summer-contracted drillmaster success in his hopes of dating a female drillmaster. As the bus rolled through the trees, I glanced out the window to see the drillmasters giving us one final salute. It was probably meant to be a poignant moment, a gesture of warmth, but with the pain I was in, I couldn’t feel anything. The whole experience had drained me too much to be moved by it. I was numb.
We finally arrived back at school, and our parents were already waiting for us. I scrambled to get off the bus, eager to escape the ordeal and find some comfort. That was it—the exhausting, challenging, and surreal experience had come to an end.
Worst Nightmare? Worst Nightmare.
People often say that military training is likely to be one’s “worst nightmare,” and for me, it reality was. This was the worst experience I’ve ever had. From the profanity-yelling drillmasters to the unacceptable sanitary conditions, everything seemed designed to break us down. The meals were questionable, I fainted on my first day from the heat, and the final blow was the sickness that hit me, no doubt a result of the dreadful hygienes. It was such an ordeal that I probably won’t forget for a while.
Was it really that bad, though? Partially yes, partially no. For one, the activities weren’t that bad. Some boring, yes, but crawling through the mud puddle was pretty fun (although sickness-inducing). On the other hand, the entire experience as a whole was horrendous, for the reasons I have already discussed.
(August 31, 2024)
Optional Content
Our Actual Schedules
Note that we received a “planned” schedule before the event began, but that was entirely off. You shouldn’t trust any schedules that you receive before-hand.
| Time | Activity |
| Day 1 (Aug 24), Morning | Arrival, collection of outfit, opening ceremony, entering dorms |
| Day 1 (Aug 24), Afternoon | Military posture training |
| Day 1 (Aug 24), Night | At 9pm, we were called outside the dorm for obedience training (yes) |
| Day 2 (Aug 25), Morning | Climbing up the mountain, setting up tents |
| Day 2 (Aug 25), Afternoon | Learning how to build a stretcher, artificial breathing, and bandage Shooting a target with a laser gun on a hill Learning to throw model grenades |
| Day 2 (Aug 25), Night | Retreat back to dorms because of rain |
| Day 3 (Aug 26), Morning | Learning military songs |
| Day 3 (Aug 26), Afternoon | Several kindergarten-style activities “Gunfight!” |
| Day 3 (Aug 26), Night | “Song battle” |
| Day 4 (Aug 27), Morning | Several kindergarten-style activities |
| Day 4 (Aug 27), Afternoon | Mud puddle crawling (obstacle race) |
| Day 4 (Aug 27), Night | Signing confirmation document Campfire performance night |
| Day 5 (Aug 28), Morning | Learning fire escape techniques |
| Day 5 (Aug 28), Afternoon | Closing ceremony, departure |
You can refer to my experience in the main article section for details of these activities.
Things You Need To Know
Here are some things you need to know, from mine and others’ experience.
Things that might happen
- Be ready to get a completely wrong schedule. You might receive a schedule before military training. Beware that that schedule might be completely off.
- Be ready to get sick. This was something that people hardly mentioned. You will very likely get sick after or during military training, simply because of how bad the hygiene conditions are. Consider bringing some medicines. Bring two packs of tissues, you will need them to clear out your nose.
- Be ready to get furious. I can’t overstate the importance of this. Military training is definitely not the most heartening of experiences. You will get very furious at the sheer humiliation that the drillmasters lay upon you. The drillmasters will constantly humiliate you and scold you, and there’s not much you could do. But really, the drillmasters only have “mouth-powers,” so if there’s a conflict, they do back down.
- Be ready to faint. Please check your predicted menstrual cycles, it will help you avoid a lot of trouble. It’s incredibly hot outside, you might just faint from the heat. In extreme cases, you might need to go to the hospital. If you have medical coverage in Beijing, download the digital medicare app (国家医保服务平台) on your phone and get a medicare QR code to avoid having to have your teacher pay out-of-pocket.
Things to be aware of
- Dorms. For male students, the dorm is located within a building with many rooms, similar to that of a hotel (but the conditions are much worse). For female students, the dorms are small individual “huts.” (Unsure, because I didn’t get to see it.)
Air conditioning is available.
Lights-off at 10pm, wake up at 6am. Typically, you are given around 30 to 40 minutes to prepare yourself in the morning.
The condition in the dorms isn’t that bad, but definitely isn’t good either. The bed is incredibly hard. Your bed, quilt, and pillow probably won’t be clean, with suspicious liquid or bloodstains on them. You will get bed sheets that you need to cover your bed, quilt, and pillow with. Learn how to use a bed sheet. - Showers. Hot water is available for showering, but only from 6am to 8am, 11am to 2pm, and 8pm to 11pm. However, on the day of mud puddle crawling, hot water was provided immediately after crawling for us to get clean, even if it wasn’t time yet.
For male students, there’s a public shower with five slots. For female students, each dorm has an individual shower (Unsure, because I didn’t get to see it.)
A soap, slippers, a rinsing cup, a toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste, and a towel is provided within a basin when you get your outfit. You can use those (they are new), but consider bringing your own items. - Clothes. You will get an outer coat, two inner tees, two pairs of trousers, a pair of quick-dry pants, a pair of shoes, and two belts (one for the outer coat and one for the trousers). The inner belt is difficult to use.
After the end of the military training, you can either bring your clothes home, or put them in the recycling bin for someone to collect.
Things you should bring, in the order of importance
- Tissues. You absolutely need to bring packs of tissues! For one, you will get sick, so you will need to clean your nose with it.
- Water bottle. You absolutely need your own water bottle! The military water bottle provided tastes like steel and paint.
- Snacks. You absolutely need snacks! The meals at the training camp are very questionable (in extreme cases, resulting in intestinal infection for some). If you are prone to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), bring some sugar with you. Consider bringing cookies.
There’s an automatic vending machine for drinks at the training camp, and it supports facial recognition payment (“smile to pay”) with Alipay. However, the drillmasters might not allow you to leave the dorm when there are no activities, so it may be difficult to get to the machine. - Band-aids. Helps with small wounds.
- Earplugs and eye masks. Some people like me need a healthy sleep schedule. Some other people, however, don’t sleep on time. In this case, you need earplugs and eye masks to make sure that you can still sleep.
- Sunscreen. Depending on your needs.
- Shower necessities and dental necessities. They provide a soap and a toothbrush, but that’s it. You might want to bring more.
- Deodorant. Not strictly necessary, but the toilets may be very stinky, and deodorant helps.
- Flashlight. On the day where we are evacuated from the mountain because of the rain, we were distributed headlamps. You might still need a flashlight.
- Insole. This was recommended by students from previous years, because the military shoes are very hard and hardly fits. However, from my experience, the shoes were fine and it wasn’t really bad. Bring one just in case, however.