This year's International Army Games continue in 10 countries. One of the events is called Gunsmith Master, which began on Monday in Korla, in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Six teams, including China, Russia and Iran, are taking part in the game. Their first challenge is howitzer maintenance.

Military engineers towed the howitzers and marched into a simulated battle zone, racing and drifting through fire and explosions, with a 3.2-ton cannon in the back of the towing trucks.

Participants have to rush through different obstacles and drive zigzag under incoming "artillery fire," in situations soldiers might encounter in real combat.

"The teams basically finished the competition with good performances, especially Team China. The crew performed well and reflected their training," said Xu Zhenhong, assistant chief referee of the game.

The intense event has attracted many die-hard fans, including former soldiers. Zhao Xin used to serve in Kashgar and left the army in 2013. He watches the event every year.

"From the games, I can see the army has gone through great reforms to become stronger and more modernized," the veteran said, adding that watching the games makes him miss the army life.

"I've come to watch the game for three years in a row," said Zhao, who said China's performances have never let him down and also brought his son to the games this year.

Team China fired a blank and wrapped up the game in 17 minutes, the best result of this year's howitzer event.

"I'm very satisfied with the result. Our team has performed at our normal level," said Zhao Hao, member of the Chinese team.

Later this week, there will be more engineering events taking place, including fixing anti-aircraft guns and rocket launchers.