一起享受射击打靶的乐趣

（本文文本为视频大致内容）

射击是用枪支对准目标打靶的竞技项目。最初枪支用于狩猎和军事目的。现在，射击被当作是一种娱乐活动。现在不论男女，在中国很多人也都深深爱上这一娱乐项目。

The China North International Shooting Range is a former Army barracks which was established as a shooting range in July of 1987. It was the first shooting range of its kind when it was built and to this day it remains the largest shooting range in all of China. It covers an area of 200,000 square meters.

The professional and safe environment of the shooting range is made possible by its highly skilled and professionally trained gun coaches. All of the gun coaches have a background in weapons and military training.

Li Yuxin is one of the gun coaches at the shooting range.

"Most of us are excellent soldiers from the army, top graduates from police schools, or sportsmen from shooting teams. We are very familiar with guns. After being hired as a coach, we still need to undergo further training to ensure the safety of our visitors."

Safety is indeed the highest priority at the shooting range, and it's obvious. One precaution is that the guns are chained to the shooting stands so the person holding the gun can only point it toward the target.

"After the customer picks up the gun, the safety instructor first helps him open the gun stack, and fix the gun on the gun stack. This guarantees the safety of the shooter, especially for beginners. The shooter also needs to wear a pair of special glasses to protect his eyes from the gun shells. In order to protect his ears, the shooter needs to wear earflaps. Also the shooter needs to wear gloves to protect his hands, because the grip will become very hot if he fires a gun many times. After each time the gun is fired, there is powerful recoil, especially with the shotguns used in our competitions. So the shooter also needs to wear a shoulder pad. Also it's better for the coach, not the shooter, to load the bullets in the gun."

After visitors check in at the front desk, they are guided to the gun room where several types of firearms are on display for them to choose from. Visitors can select anything from standard handguns to high-powered rifles, or automatic weapons such as the ubiquitous AK-47 and the Uzi.

So what types of guns do foreigners like to shoot? And which types of guns do Chinese people like to shoot?

"Foreign customers like to shoot the guns which have a strong blowback, for example, the shotguns which are exclusively used in competitions are favored by foreigners. Chinese customers like the guns with a small caliber size, like EM332 sports rifle. They like to practice precision aiming."

People of all ages visit the shooting range seven days a week. Xu Xin is in charge of the head office at the shooting range.

"The number of male visitors is higher than our female visitors because men like shooting guns more than women. Most of our customers are Chinese, but the number of foreign visitors has been rising over the years."

Once visitors make their gun selections they are then guided to one of the many shooting galleries where the weapons are fired.

Each shooting gallery is equipped with a movable target which is controlled by a gun coach. The guns are fired towards the outdoor portion of the range which is made up of several hectares of open land fortified by large mounds of thick dirt. There are two 200-meter target lanes, eighteen 100-meter target lanes and eight 25-meter pistol lanes. There is also an outdoor area for those who want to try their skill at what is referred to as clay pigeon shooting, but what is known more commonly in the West as "skeet" shooting.

Mr. Zhao has visited the shooting range several times. He first started coming here after being invited by his clients, which later aroused his interest in the sport of shooting. Now he is a big fan of shotguns.

"It's very different from shooting fixed targets. And it's very exciting."

He is planning on participating in the shotgun competition next year.

The shooting range sponsors many competitions throughout the year. There's a big one for adults and there's even one for kids.

"We have two regular competitions each year. One is called Nonstandard Clay-pigeon Shooting competition for adults, which runs from winter to spring. The competition in 2011 will start in March. The other is a competition called "I am the King of Shooting — a future shooting star" to celebrate Children's Day."

As for the cost of shooting the guns, it entirely depends on what kind of guns you want to shoot and how many bullets you want to shoot.

And as an important reminder: all foreigners must bring their passport in order to gain entrance to the premises.