SHENYANG, Sept. 18 -- China marked the 83rd anniversary of the 9.18 Incident on Thursday in a high-profile manner, as senior Communist Party of China official Liu Yunshan joined citizens to strike a big bell on which was carved with "never forget national humiliation."

Air raid sirens were then sounded at 9:18 am across the city of Shenyang, where the incident occurred, along with other cities across the northeast China's Liaoning Province.

More than 1,000 people were on the scene to watch the bell-ringing ceremony, which was aimed to remind people of the Japanese aggression.