Fifty-eight years ago today, Japan surrendered to China, ending its eight year-long, full-scale invasion of China. On Friday morning, hundreds of soldiers and war veterans marked the anniversary in Beijing's Memorial Hall of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japan.

To the strains of China's national anthem, cadets placed a wreath in the hall in remembrance of the martyrs and the tens of millions of Chinese victims during the Japanese invasion.

War veterans from a well-known group, known as the "railway guerillas," from east China's Shandong Province donated various artifacts, including weapons and equipment used to fight the invaders, including a wooden boat, helmets and broadswords, as well of photos from the period.

(CCTV.com August 15, 2003)