Ahead of the September 3rd Victory Day, people across China, young and old, visit museums and other sites in honor of the day and those who died in the war. CGTN's Hu Chao met a veteran at a memorial in northern China's Shanxi Province and brings us this report.

 

A salute to the statues of his respected generals, 93-year-old Wei Taihe is a veteran who joined the Eighth Route Army at the age of 12. With Victory Day approaching, he visited the Eighth Route Army Revolutionary Memorial Museum in Wuxiang County in north China's Shanxi Province. He remembers well the days he and his fellow Chinese soldiers fought against Japanese invaders. He'll never forget the brutality of the people they faced in the battlefield.

 

WEI TAIHE VETERAN IN WAR AGAINST JAPANESE AGGRESSION Male "Once during a battlefield, I found the body of one of my close fellow soldiers. He was stabbed 26 times by the Japanese. His face was even stabbed beyond recognition. I cried bitterly at the scene and I couldn't understand why the Japanese were so inhuman."

 

Wei lives in a nursing home over one hundred kilometers away. But he still comes to visit this memorial museum several times a year. He hopes younger generations remember the country's past.

 

WEI TAIHE VETERAN IN WAR AGAINST JAPANESE AGGRESSION Male "Our country was built on the tremendous sacrifices of the lives of the Chinese army and the people. Not only our generation, but the next generations should never forget history. Only in this way can we cherish the peaceful life that we're having now. "

 

Official data show the museum takes in over a million visitors every year. The number of young guests has been increasing, which should be encouraging for people like Wei.

 

VISITOR EIGHTH ROUTE ARMY REVOLUTIONARY MEMORIAL MUSEUM Female "I feel so impressed by the spirit of the Chinese communist party during the war. The peace that we have now was won with their blood and lives. It was never easy."

 

VISITOR EIGHTH ROUTE ARMY REVOLUTIONARY MEMORIAL MUSEUM Male "Learning more about history will encourage us to inherit their spirit and work harder to make more contributions to our country."

 

HU CHAO WUXIANG COUNTY, SHANXI PROVINCE It's been over seven decades since China won the war against Japanese aggression. And today when we embrace peace, we should never forget the history and those who died in the war. Because only when we keep learning from the past, are we able to protect peace and have a better future. Hu Chao, CGTN, Wuxiang County, Shanxi Province.