STORY: In Harbin's icy embrace, tourists flock to offer condolences, cherish memories
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 26, 2024
DATELINE: Feb. 8, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:40
LOCATION: HARBIN, China
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of visitors in the Exhibition Hall of Evidence of Crimes Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army

STORYLINE:

Harbin, the capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, has emerged as a top winter destination since the beginning of the year. However, amid the joyous festivities at popular spots like the Ice-Snow World theme park, tens of thousands have also flocked to a memorial outside the city center.

Braving the freezing weather, people queue up patiently to enter the Exhibition Hall of Evidence of Crimes Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army.

The notorious Unit 731 was a top-secret biological and chemical warfare research base established in Harbin as the nerve center for Japanese biological warfare in China and Southeast Asia during World War II. At least 3,000 people were used for human experiments by Unit 731, and more than 300,000 people in China were killed by Japan's biological weapons.

The exhibition hall showcases documents, experimental utensils and tools used by the Japanese, along with videos that record the accounts of former Unit 731 soldiers.

This winter the exhibition hall has been ranked third among all other tourist attractions in Harbin by the world's leading travel platform TripAdvisor. 

Since the beginning of this year, the daily average number of visitors has continued to surpass 17,000. As of the end of January, the exhibition has welcomed over 500,000 visitors, with approximately 90 percent coming from outside Heilongjiang, and 60 percent being young people.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Harbin, China.
(XHTV)