Over the past decades, China's Xinjiang has been targeted by extremist groups looking to create a "caliphate" in the region. To respond to the volatile security environment, the Hotan SWAT team has been holding live fire drills to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

This is one of many human stories in our exclusive documentary "Tianshan Still Standing: Memories of fighting terrorism in Xinjiang." You can watch the full documentaryhere.