Historic Flying Tigers relics find new home in Guangzhou

Pedro Chan, president of the Cantonese Society of Southern California, donated around 1,000 pieces of historic items related to Flying Tigers Chinese museums, libraries and memorial halls to Guangzhou, Guangdong province, earlier this week.

The relics he donated include military uniforms, medals, photos and maps, which will be displayed in special museums, memorial halls and libraries in Beijing, Chongqing, and Guangdong province.

Chan, a native of Guangdong province, is also executive director of the American Flying Tigers Institute. He began to collect WWII memorabilia in 2007 and is enthusiastic in studying the Flying Tigers. He has donated more than 16,000 items to museums, memorial halls and libraries in the Beijing and Chongqing municipalities, Guangdong, Yunnan and Hunan provinces and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. Most of his donations are related to the Flying Tigers.

Chan has done a lot of work to help strengthen cultural exchanges between China and the US over the past years.

The American Volunteer Group (AVG), known as Flying Tigers, formed in 1941, and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Chinese people to fight invading Japanese troops during the war. The group consisted of three fighter squadrons of around 30 aircraft each. Two of the squadrons were based in Kunming of Yunnan province.

Data shows that more than 2,000 Flying Tigers airmen gave their lives during the war. The Chinese people also provided American pilots with assistance. More than 200 pilots in distress were rescued, with thousands of Chinese people giving their lives during the rescue operations.