(Chinese Taikonauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng laid wreath to the Memorial Hall for the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, Tuesday, December 13, 2005. Photo: Xinhua)
The expansion project of the Memorial Hall for the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre broke ground Tuesday in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, to mark the 68th anniversary of the atrocity committed by Japanese invading troops.
With an investment of 478 million yuan (59 million US dollars), the expansion project will be completed in two years and the total area of the memorial will reach 7.32 hectares, an increase of 5.12 hectares, according to the expansion plan, which has been approved by the provincial development and reform commission.
The new memorial hall will include a square which can hold 30,000 people and a 30,000-square-meter park, apart from the existing exhibition hall, said Zhu Chengshan, curator of the memorial hall.
Japanese aggressors occupied Nanjing, then capital city, on Dec. 13, 1937, and launched a six-week long massacre. Historical records show that more than 300,000 Chinese people, including both disarmed soldiers and innocent civilians, were massacred in the holocaust.
Zhu said that he hopes the new memorial hall can serve as a reminder for the people not to forget history and cherish peace.
(Source: Xinhua)
