In the roaring sound of drums and gongs, the advance unit of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Macao Garrison troops have arrived at the Gongbei control point, a gateway linking Macao with the Chinese mainland.

The headquarters staff and armored and motorized infantry units have marched through an archway decorated with flowers, saluting to people lining both sides of a street in Zhuhai to see them off.

All the garrison troops are expected to go through the Gongbei control checkpoint on their way into Macao, a region that has returned to China after being ruled by the Portuguese for a long period of time.