Cemetery connects lost soldiers with the present

Next generation

The cemetery is not frozen in time. Last year, it received more than 500,000 visitors — a number that has grown every year, Wang Chunjie said. School groups, tourists and young people traveling on their own initiative are a common sight, she said.

Young people taking the initiative to visit martyrs' cemeteries is a vivid manifestation of the continuous inheritance of the "Red bloodline". The ideas of remembering history and honoring heroes are steadily taking root among the younger generation, she added.

Wang Chunjie has taken the cemetery's stories beyond its gates, lecturing at schools and universities across the country. "When we show up in person — the people who guard these heroes every day — it hits differently," she said.

Not all visitors are relatives. Wen Dong, 29, traveled from Gansu province. He was at the cemetery on a day off, drawn by news of the latest repatriated martyrs. "We used to visit memorials back home too," he said. "Every time I go to a new city, I find a place like this."

When asked why a young man would spend his free time at a martyrs' cemetery, Wen paused. "It's hard to put into words," he said. "For me, it's not like climbing a mountain or sightseeing. This is different. It's a feeling — a sense of respect." He plans to bring his children here one day. "Of course I will tell them these stories. The spirit has to be passed on."

For Yue Zhonghou, a 74-year-old retired worker from Beijing, the war is personal history. Born in 1952, the year the fighting was still going on, he grew up in its shadow.

He made his first pilgrimage to the Shenyang cemetery recently — a trip he had promised himself for years.

Yue was visiting Shenyang while his wife attended a class reunion. "I finally carved out a day," he said. For Yue, the war's significance transcends military victory.

"We were so poor then. Yet we took on the world's most powerful military — and we prevailed," he said. "That confidence, that unity — it's in our DNA now. Our nation as a whole will never forget."

He plans to tell his 40-year-old son what he saw and felt, and believes that the spirit should be passed from generation to generation. "The spirit of that war is the foundation of China today. No difficulty we face now is harder than what they endured, and we will prevail no matter what hardships we face in the future."

Contact the writers at zoushuo@chinadaily.com.cn