Functions were held throughout China yesterday to commemorate "the July 7 incident" of 1937 when Japan kicked off an all-out war of invasion against China and mark the 60th anniversary of the Chinese people's victory in the war against Japanese aggression.
Japanese troops launched the all-out invasion by crossing the Marco Polo Bridge in Beijing on July 7, 1937.
An opening ceremony for an exhibition was held yesterday morning at the Memorial Hall of Chinese People's Anti-Japanese War, which is located at the Marco Polo Bridge.
With the theme of "keeping history in mind and loving peace while ushering in future," the show is divided into eight parts, featuring more than 800 cultural relics, 600 photos and about 40 graphs and charts. Of the total historic documents, 141 items are available for the public for the first time.
"I'm an elementary school student. After I viewed the exhibition, I feel that we Chinese should never forget the nation's humiliation during World War II," wrote Li Siyang of Beijing Jiaomen Primary School in the visitors' book at the exhibition, which runs through September 3.
Bolt Karel Fererie from Washington  DC expressed his appreciation of the exhibition, which, in his eyes, accurately and vividly describes the historical facts about Chinese people's fight against the Japanese aggressors.
Yesterday also saw residents and visitors pray for the war victims in front of the site of a mass grave at Jiangdongmen in Nanjing, capital of eastern China's Jiangsu Province.
The mass grave was left over from the Nanjing Massacre that occurred in December 1937 when Japanese troops occupied the city.
More than 300,000 Chinese civilians were killed, one-third of the houses in the city burned down and more than 20,000 women raped. At Jiangdongmen alone, 28,730 corpses were buried by charity organizations at the beginning of 1938.
A Website was launched for the massacre victims in Nanjing, with the slogan,"Never forget and pray for peace." The Website, www.neverforget.com.cn, provides on-the-spot records, photos and video and audio materials.
Elsewhere, the bell of the prestigious Nankai University in Tianjin were chimed yesterday morning for seven strokes first and then for another seven strokes.
The 3,000-kilogram campus bell is 1.937 meters high, and the figure is a memorial for the year 1937 when the Japanese troops bombarded the university.
Adding to the nationwide campaigns, a museum of the across-the-border war against the Japanese during World War II in Yunnan Province and Myanmar, where Chinese troops fought in alliance with British and American ones, was opened. It is believed the museum is China's first private gallery for commemorating the anti-Japanese war.
In Hong Kong, more than 100 people protested before the Consulate General of Japan yesterday. Representatives from the Hong Kong Reparation Association demanded apologies and compensation from the Japanese government and criticized right-wing forces in Japan for their attitude toward militarism and distortion of history textbooks.
About 20 representatives of the group also marched to the Consulate General of the United States, protesting against its support of Japan to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.