MORE than 400 rare photos, videos and documentaries depicting Chinese and U.S. soldiers’ lives during World War II are on exhibition at the Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution in Beijing through Sept. 9.

    Themed “National Memories: Images That Narrate China-U.S. Collaboration During World War II,” the exhibition tells the story of how China and the United States allied to fight for peace and justice against fascist Japanese aggression against China, Myanmar and India.

    The photos, contributed by the National Archives of the United States, were taken by the 164 United States Army Signal Corps and have never been publicly displayed. Chinese scholars researching the era found the photos in the U.S. Archives.

    The photos show a tender side of life, when Chinese and American soldiers collaborated with each other and established intimate relationships with local people, in contrast to the bloody and horrifying scenes they experienced on the battlefield.

    One photo captured the scene when an American soldier and a Chinese shared a light for their cigarettes — a moment when people, regardless of nationalities, shared the same identity as freedom-fighters for peace. The photos remind people from all over the world that they should cherish the hard-won peace they now enjoy.

    The photos serve as an important aid for Chinese people to learn about that period in history since China’s photograph facilities and technology lagged behind America’s at that time.

    The exhibit also includes six videos presented by the Shanghai Audio Visual Archives and three documentaries recorded by the Yuezhong Museum of Historical Image, which is also the exhibition’s curator. The films captured the people’s armed forces as they bravely fought against Japanese aggressors.

    The exhibition, opening to mark the anniversaries of “Victory Day” on Sept. 3 and the signing of the capitulation by the Japanese Government in surrender to China on Sept. 9, is also a salute to both the United States and Chinese war veterans who fought for peace and defended the integrity of the Chinese territory.

    Representatives of the Chinese Expeditionary Forces, American veterans of the war and descendants of anti-Japanese war leaders attended the exhibition’s opening ceremony.

    During the exhibition, four lectures and seminars will be held, including speeches given by history professionals and war veterans.

    Initiated by Shenzhen Yuezhong Investment Holding Co., the exhibition has won praise from cities it has toured, including Shenzhen, Chongqing, Taipei, Hangzhou and cities in the United States.

    Add: Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution, 9 Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing (北京市海淀区复兴路9号中国人民革命军事博物馆)

    (Anna Zhao)