culture

The Meari Shooting Gallery in Sports Village on Pyongyang’s Chongchun Street is an alluring public recreational facility for people.

Nestling at the foot of a picturesque low hill in good harmony with the natural surroundings, it gives a snug and fresh feeling to the visitors. If they enter the gallery, its logo comes into sight.

The logo, a round target with the letters of meari meaning echo at the centre, awakens the interest of visitors in shooting at first sight. 

According to Kim Hyang Mi, a guide, the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un said the logo is distinctive when he visited the renovated and modernized shooting gallery in February 2014.

Centring on the entrance hall, there are ray gun and rifle ranges and an amusement arcade and shop on the ground floor.

The ray gun range where shrieks of birds are heard is visited by many adults as well as children. Through a large display, they can shoot at targets like bear, wild boar and deer running through the forest and snow fields for six minutes.

In the rifle range with eight firing positions 50-m rifle shooting takes place.

With the help of guides with good marksmanship, visitors can learn the firing posture, the method of rifle shooting and the secret of marksmanship and experience strain from firing live shells, the thrill of hitting the targets and various other feelings at the same time.

Guide Pae Il Sim said that though the firing range is soundproof and sound-absorbing, customers are recommended to wear earplugs before shooting.

Light music is sometimes played impressively at the amusement arcade equipped with electronic amusement facilities on the three sides. According to Kim Hyang, a guide in the arcade, the music is played to congratulate the visitors whenever they get high marks and they are enthusiastic about playing game on machines to hear it.

There are an archery range and 25-metre pistol and electronic pistol ranges on the first floor.

At the archery range visitors can shoot at 10-metre targets, 30-metre at maximum, and balloons and in the 25-metre pistol firing range they can feel pleasure of shooting pistols with the help of guides.

At the electronic pistol firing range, they will get the knack of marksmanship including the supporting of weapons and control of breath.

At the outdoor firing range with 12 firing positions, customers can shoot at not only sitting targets, but also live animals like chicken and pheasant with automatic and other rifles and pistols in the 25-metre pistol and 50-metre rifle shootings.

They can bring home animals they hit or order dishes with them.

They can also play tennis, badminton and volleyball at the outdoor sports field and the restaurant there provides kind service for them.

“Lots of people have visited the Meari Shooting Gallery so far, and it keeps luring many with such a special charm of shooting,” said Kim Hyang Mi.