Mission to save war relics

Farmer's quest to keep lessons and memories of Japanese invasion alive

Over the past 17 years, Cao Liming has received nearly 500,000 visitors at the Memorial Hall of Peace, a museum in Suifenhe, Heilongjiang province.

The 66-year-old curator started to collect items related to the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) in 1986, and founded the memorial in April 2002. In the 300-square-meter memorial hall, there are over 3,000 exhibits, including documents and relics relating to the war.

Cao was born in Muling, and his childhood memories are of older family members expressing their hatred for the Japanese invaders.

"As I grew up, I gradually understood what my family suffered," he recalled. "In 1935, my mother's uncle was captured by Japanese soldiers and forced to work as slave labor in Dongning, never to be seen again."

In the spring of 1945, Cao's grandfather and uncle were also captured and forced to build defensive lines for the Japanese army in Muling.

"Thanks to the Soviet Union's Red Army that joined Chinese military forces to drive out the Imperial Japanese Army, they returned home in August, 1945," he said. "However, they fell seriously ill from overwork and died soon after."