America Modern Green take their investment clients to enjoy firing at Houston's Top Gun range on May 19.MAY ZHOU / CHINA DAILY

The Chinese business people were in Houston to look at possible investment opportunities and get a sense of the Lone Star state's culture, which included firing hundreds of bullets at a gun range.

For some among the group of 10 from Hefei, Anhui province, the flying shells and loud pops at the Top Gun indoor range was exhilarating.

"It feels so invigorating to fire bullets at will," said Tu Runqiu, who said he had attended a military academy in China.

"I am no stranger to guns, but even at the military academy, I did not get to fire these many shots. Bullets were expensive and we were allowed to fire 20 shots at most during one session of training. I probably fired more than 100 shots tonight. It feels so thrilling," he said about the exercise at the range on May 19.

Real estate developer America Modern Green invited the group to Houston to tour its $300 million Ivy District, a multi-use residential community under development. Gavin Liang, general manager and chief architect at AMG, said the group is serious about investing in AMG projects either through its EB-5 visa program or other ways.

While in Houston, the group also visited the home of the Rockets basketball team, Rice University, the NASA Space Center and met with locals and tasted Texas cuisine.

Over the past year, AMG has guided scores of high-net-worth individuals from China on tours of Texas to get a first-hand look at investing opportunities and the lifestyle.