Nanjing Massacre museum receives record high visitors

China's Nanjing Massacre museum received 103,500 visitors on Sunday, one day after the first national memorial day for victims of the Nanjing Massacre, marking a record high since establishment in 1985.

Zhu Chengshan, curator of the memorial hall, said the passion of the visitors showed the influence of the national memorial day.

The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, based in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, was closed to the public from Nov. 18 to Dec. 13 in preparation for the first national memorial day.

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

The memorial hall access was free to the public from 2004, which houses original remains, sculptures and historical records of the massacre.

Starting from 1994, Jiangsu Province and Nanjing City have given memorial assemblies on Dec. 13 every year to mourn the victims and promote peace.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, has set two national memorial days, July 7 and Dec. 13, early this year to mark victory in the anti-Japanese invasion war and mourn Nanjing Massacre victims.