Martin Li

martin.mouse@163.com

MORE than 700 people in Shenzhen participated in a memorial service for martyrs at the city’s martyr cemetery near Beihuan Boulevard yesterday.

Among the participants were city leaders, relatives of martyrs, former soldiers, police and students.

People sang the national anthem together and then paid silent tribute to the martyr monument, around which flower baskets were placed.

Many cities held events yesterday to honor and remember deceased national heroes on the first Martyrs’ Day.

On the eve of National Day, Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, offered flower baskets at the Monument to the People’s Heroes in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square yesterday morning.

It is estimated that China has about 20 million martyrs. However, only 1.93 million of them have been named in the government’s directory while the rest have not be identified.

Shenzhen is home to 1,048 registered revolutionary martyrs, including those who died in China’s war against Japanese aggression and two revolutionary civil wars, according to yesterday’s report by sznews.com.

The names of the 1,048 martyrs are inscribed on the monument at the cemetery.