Nanjing Massacre Memorial February 14, 2012

No cutesy title as this was a rather somber outing, a Shanghai Expat Association (SEA) day trip with weighty historical significance. Here's the SEA blurb:

Day Trip: Highspeed Train to Nanjing Massacre Museum

This time, we will take the fast speed train to Nanjing and visit the Nanjing Massacre Museum to learn what happened to the people of Nanjing during the six-week period following the Japanese capture of Nanjing, then capital of the Republic of China, in 1937. The museum is built on the site where thousands of bodies have been excavated from mass graves. Through a variety of means for exhibitions, we will learn about the tragedy of the atrocities in Nanjing.

I don't think the word Nanjing was used enough.

The Hongqiao Railway Station in Shanghai, our departure point.

So shiny!

View from the second floor

I was told that this was the largest indoor hall after the Pentagon, 

but I couldn't find any corroborating evidence on-line. 

Our train to Nanjing, which is 158 miles (sorry, I grew up with imperial)
slightly northwest of Shanghai.

So shiny, too!

My seat

Ah, yeah. I put my bag there to give you a sense of width. 

Cozy, especially with buddy taking up what little precious space I did have.

How do you say in Mandarin, "Move your elbow, please?"

Our tour guide Janny with the train hostess? Train conductor? Attendant? 

Whatever her title, I thought her uniform, especially the hat, was very fetching. 

The country-side at 300 plus kilometres per hour.
Yes, I am aware I lapsed into metric.

It's blurry because we were going so fast...yeah, that's it, that's why...

It definitely did not feel like 307 km/h. Smoothest ride I've ever experienced.

Upon our arrival in Nanjing, we boarded a bus for the half hour drive to the Museum.

The guide spoke, from memory, for the entire time. I heard everything one could ever hope to hear about the history of Nanjing, from ancient times right up to February 14, 2012.

I only have photos of the general exterior, as we were told not to take any interior photos.
Yes, this was one time when that rule was meant to be respected. 

Statues near the entrance to the grounds of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in 

Nanjing Massacre [sic] by Japanese Invaders.

Entering the grounds

Close up of figures on the right side



Looking back at the entrance and the dramatic sculpture

One is not supposed to walk on the gravel as it represents the people who were killed.

The SEA group filing towards the Memorial Hall.

The weather was certainly fitting. 

As I said earlier, photos were not permitted inside the Memorial Hall. The exhibitions, which explained the Massacre in chronological order, were detailed and moving. Thankfully, the signs were all bilingual. What I especially appreciated were the reconstructions of a Nanjing street and house under siege. Even with that level of realism, it was so hard to imagine being in that type of situation. Many of us are so fortunate to have never experienced war and its atrocities.

May God grant us all peace.