Young Chinese visit Nanjing Massacre memorial

Representatives of students offers a wreath at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, July 29, 2015. Some 1200 students from China's Jiangsu Province, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan visited the memorial hall on Wednesday to commemorate the victims killed by the Japanese Army and also the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggressions and World War II. (Xinhua/Sun Can)

NANJING, July 29 -- A party of 1,200 young Chinese visited a memorial to the Nanjing Massacre in the eastern Chinese city on Wednesday, as China prepares to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

The young people, from Jiangsu Province as well as Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, paid tribute at the Memorial Hall for Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.

One of the group gave a reading calling for commemoration of the Chinese who died during WWII and for the nation to cherish peace.

"It is useful for Chinese youths to review history on the 70th anniversary," said a student from the Hong Kong Institute of Education.

"The visit helped us understand how China suffered when it was weak and how significant its rejuvenation has been since then," the student added.

"Young people should learn from history and treasure the present to build a better future," said Lu Jun, a teacher from a middle school in Nanjing.

On Dec. 13, 1937, Japanese troops began six weeks of destruction, pillage, rape and slaughter in Nanjing. More than 300,000 Chinese, including civilians and unarmed soldiers, were murdered.