A walk among heroes

"Heroes are human, too. Beyond lofty personas, they are ordinary people with spouses, children and parents. Sharing their intimate words makes their sacrifices far more real," Zhou says.

According to her, although the Battle of Wuhan ended in the strategic withdrawal of Chinese forces, it succeeded in inflicting significant casualties and material losses upon the Japanese army. After that, Japan was unable to mount any further large-scale military operations.

Today, Wuhan preserves this pivotal history in numerous museums and memorials. One of the city's most powerful symbols is the Zhongshan warship. Japanese fighter planes sank the vessel in the Yangtze during the battle in 1938. It was submerged for 59 years until it was salvaged in 1997.

The warship was ordered by the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) government from Japan in 1910. Originally named Yongfeng, it was renamed in 1925 in honor of revered revolutionary forerunner Sun Yat-sen. The Zhongshan Warship Museum in Wuhan was later specially built for the warship and opened to the public in 2011, with a collection of more than 7,300 pieces or sets of cultural relics.

"The Zhongshan warship is recognized as the largest movable cultural relic in China, as well as the most significant surviving artifact from the war. Its fate is inseparable from modern Chinese history, making it an invaluable teaching tool for patriotism," says Liu Xinyang, the museum's deputy curator.

The museum is now temporarily closed due to a culture project construction in the community.

"Tourists are deeply moved by the heroic stories and deeds connected to the warship's battle history. They also show strong interest in how it was salvaged, restored, relocated, and later exhibited."

The salvaged cultural relics from the warship are distinctive in features, including nameplates and badges, and shipboard facilities.

"The salvaged weapons and equipment cover almost all major types of light arms used by the Chinese army during the war against Japanese aggression, such as pistols and submachine guns," he says.

"The collection shows that people from all walks of life donated daily essentials to support the troops during the war against Japanese aggression, which serve as a testament to the nationwide resistance at that time."

The museum also houses more than 1,000 wartime telegram manuscripts, carefully preserved in moisture-proof wrapping. Experts are now decoding them, hoping they will yield new insights into the warship's role and the war against Japanese aggression.

This year, the museum is deploying a large-scale artificial intelligence model to enhance collection research, exhibition design, public education, and cultural creative products development. In May, the museum introduced Zhi Xiaolan, an AI guide, designed to offer online tours and detailed explanations of artifacts.

Liu says that cutting-edge technologies including AI and virtual reality offer tourists immersive experiences to learn about the history, such as the reenactment of war scenes.

Jin Yihan contributed to this story.