The opera "Diaries of John Rabe" debuted in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, on December 13 as part of the memorial events for the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre.

Based on the personal journals of German businessman John Rabe, who lived in Nanjing at the time of Nanjing Massacre, the opera portrayed the darkest 170 days in Nanjing's history.

John Heinrich Detlev Rabe (November 23, 1882-January 5, 1950) is best known for his efforts to stop the atrocities of the Japanese army during the occupation of Nanjing and for his work to protect and help Chinese civilians. The Nanjing Safety Zone, which he helped to establish, sheltered approximately 200,000 Chinese people from slaughter.

It took the famous Chinese composer Tang Jianping and his team one year and five days to put the opera on stage. According to Tang, he has collected all available historical materials of John Rabe – his books, letters, video footage and other artwork – to revive a vivid image of Rabe for his great love of humanity. In addition to the profound historical significance, this opera enjoys a great value of artwork, too.

 Xue Yaoyin, a young Chinese vocalist, plays John Rabe in the opera. 

"As the leading actor, I feel the challenge of playing an overseas character in an original Chinese opera," Xue said. "You have to keep thinking how to bring out the soul of the character, and my understanding gets deeper every week."

A total of 22 foreigners, among whom John Rabe was later elected the leader, organized the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone, which created the Nanking Safety Zone to provide Chinese refugees with food and shelter from the impending Japanese slaughter. The International Committee was inspired by the establishment in November 1937 of a neutral zone in Shanghai, which protected 450,000 civilians.