Soldiers from the Yunnan Provincial Military Area Command before starting a mine clearance operation at Laoshan Mountain in Malipo county, Yunnan province. [Photo by Xu Wei/China Daily]

As the People's Liberation Army launches a mission to clear mines along the China-Vietnam border, China Daily takes you to the scene of the ongoing mission.

The task, to be completed by the end of 2017, will comb 51 mine fields in six counties along the border, an area that is home to more than 50,000 people.

A preliminary investigation shows that more than 470,000 mines remain buried in the mountains and dense forests in the areas despite two other undertakings from 1992 to 1994 and 1997 to 1999.