They are young. They are dedicated. They secure the country's borders, but often struggle to keep their own marriages or other romantics from falling apart.
China-Nepal border patrol points are located in the remote and desolate Himalayan plateau regions nearly 5,000 meters above the sea level. A rare visit by Xinhua reporters showed that border guards there work in extremely harsh conditions, both physically and emotionally.
"Summer here is colder than winter in many other places of the country," said Gojo Namgyal, acting deputy head of the Lhatse Gyagya Station in Saga County, Shigatse Prefecture in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.
He said temperatures can easily fall below minus 10 degrees Celsius at night, even in summer. Border guards have to wrap themselves up in two quilts and a sleeping bag to stay warm in their tents. "The conditions are so harsh that none of our soldiers is able to take a shower," Gojo Namgyal said.
The station is manned by 10 young guards - the youngest is just 17. By day, they carry guns on patrol. But at night, there is nothing to do other than stare at the stars, the guards said.
Only three are married. There is no mobile phone reception. Visits by wives and girlfriends are rare, they said.
A 20-year-old guard named Yang Baoqian recalled that he was dying to see his girlfriend one month after he was posted there. The girl he had been dating for over a year was coming to visit on April 1 with the army's regular supply convoy.
But then a blizzard came. The convoy was forced to turn back after running into a section of snow- and ice-covered road just a few kilometers from the patrol station. Upon learning what happened, Yang knelt on the ground, crying "What is this? An April Fool's Day joke?"
When the blizzard passed, Yang traveled to the section of road where the supply convoy stopped. A graffiti-style note scrawled on a rock saying, "I came, but wasn't able to see you." His girlfriend's name was signed at the bottom.
Border guards, from regions all over the country, are primarily tasked with curbing illegal crossings. The guards are also required to help the government deliver welfare shipments to border villagers and participate in disaster relief.
Sang Erfeng, head of the station, quoted a diary from a younger guard who grew up in a city. "There is no iPod and no 3D movies. Crows are my friends during the day, and sometimes I have only sheep to talk to in the depth of those lonely nights."
