Combining sympathy with discipline, a military-style boot camp near Beijing is at the front-line of China’s battle against internet addiction, a disorder afflicting millions of the nation’s youth, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

The government-funded Daxing center, run by an army colonel under the Beijing Military Hospital, is one of a handful of clinics treating patients with internet addictions in China.

Patients, overwhelmingly male and aged 14 to 19, wake up in common dormitories at 6:15am to do morning calisthenics and march on the cracked concrete grounds wearing khaki fatigues.

Drill sergeants bark orders at them when they are not attending group and one-on-one counseling sessions. Therapy includes patients simulating war games with laser guns.

China will not allow any new internet cafes to open this year. Approximately 113,000 are currently in operation.