On April 26, the “Inheriting the Spirit of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression · Safeguarding a Peaceful Future” relics walking tour was held at Zhongshan Sports Park in Nanjing. Nearly 300 participants from China and abroad followed a 9.2-kilometer route on foot, visiting historical sites including the Eastern Suburbs Burial Site Memorial and the Shaojiashan Bunker Complex.

In December 1937, the Japanese invading army carried out the Nanjing Massacre with extreme brutality, leaving the eastern suburbs of Nanking strewn with corpses and devastation everywhere. In April 1938, charitable organizations such as Chongshantang began collecting and burying the dead. From outside Zhongshan Gate to Maqun Town, more than 33,000 bodies were collected and buried on nearby hills or fields. In December of the same year, the puppet Health Bureau collected over 3,000 more bodies and buried them east of Linggu Temple. To commemorate the deceased of the Nanjing Massacre, the Nanjing Municipal People’s Government erected the Eastern Suburbs Burial Site Memorial in the Xiwazi area of the Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum Scenic Area. Shaojiashan, formerly known as Xishan, retains seven bunkers today, six of which are large connected bunkers and one is an observation post. During the Battle of Nanking, the Central Military Academy’s Teaching Corps resisted invading forces in the Zijin Mountain, and these bunkers bear witness to the fierce battles of the time. Participants in the walking tour paid tribute with flowers, listened to detailed explanations, and observed bullet holes up close.

He An’an, a mother accompanying her five-year-old child along the full route, reflected, “Hearing it a thousand times is not as good as walking the ground once.” Pakistani student Ivan remarked that the historical suffering revealed the resilient vitality of Nanking. Yao Yijun, grandson of Nanjing Massacre survivor Ni Cuiping, called on everyone to remember history and cherish peace.