The first block of ice is pulled from the Songhua River at the start of the annual ice harvest in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, on Dec 7, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]
Police dogs showcase their skills during an open house event at the public security bureau of Huaibei city in Anhui province, on Dec 8, 2019. [Photo by Li Xin/For China Daily]
Volunteers from Hebei University of Environmental Engineering teach primary students the basics of trash sorting at a school in Qinhuangdao's Haigang district in Hebei province, on Dec 9, 2019. [Photo by Cao Jianxiong/For China Daily]
Foreign students learn about picking and weighing traditional Chinese medicinal herbs at a TCM center in Huzhou, Zhejiang province, on Dec 9, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]
A truck clears snow on a street in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang province, on Dec 11, 2019, after a heavy snowfall hit the area. [Photo by Zhang Chunxiang/For China Daily]
The State ceremony for the National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims is held at the memorial hall for the massacre victims in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, Dec 13, 2019. [Photo by Cui Xiao/chinadaily.com.cn]
The State ceremony for the National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims is held at the memorial hall for the massacre victims in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, Dec 13, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]
NANJING -- In front of the crowd in black, China's national flag flew at half-mast as the nation held a memorial ceremony Friday to mourn the 300,000 victims of the Nanjing Massacre.
Pinning a white flower, more than 8,000 people from all walks of life attended the sixth national memorial ceremony in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province. A total of 82 teenagers read aloud a declaration of peace and citizen representatives struck the Bell of Peace.
Thousands of white doves representing hope for peace were released to fly over the memorial square of the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.
In 2014, China's top legislature designated Dec 13 as the national memorial day for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre, which took place when Japanese troops captured the city of Nanjing on Dec 13, 1937 and brutally killed around 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in over six weeks, making it one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II.
Kwan Vai Meng(R) talks with a fish vendor in Macao, south China, Dec. 9, 2019. Kwan Vai Meng, 55, makes a living on selling fish like his grandfather and father. He is the vice-chairman of a fish trade association. The association organizes annually the traditional Drunken Dragon Festival on the eighth day of the fourth month in the Chinese lunar calendar. The Drunken Dragon Festival features Chinese drunken dragon performance, sacrifice offering, as well as providing dragon boat rice to audiences. It is a traditional cultural event for praying for safety and prosperity of Macao's fishing industry. Kwan is trying to record the tradition of drunken dragon dance. Speaking of Macao in the past 20 years, Kwan said the increasing number of the tourists coming here has impressed him the most. "This has brought great changes to Macao," said Kwan. "As there are now more industries for people to work in, it offers people a wider choice of jobs." (Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka)
Rescuers check the site of a cave-in on Lyucuo Road where a Line 2 subway station is under construction in Xiamen, East China's Fujian province, on Dec 12, 2019. An area totaling 500 square meters collapsed and water pipes broke at about 9:50 pm Thursday. Two cars slipped into the deep space but no one was trapped and the people in the vehicles escaped safely. [Photo by Ye Yiheng/chinadaily.com.cn]
Sprays of water from leaping, wriggling fish soak fishermen as they haul in a net containing many fish during a winter fishing event at Xiannv Lake in Xinyu city, East China's Jiangxi province, Dec 12, 2019. [Photo by Zhao Chunliang/for chinadaily.com.cn]
Representatives of foreign media outlets experience Chinese traditional calligraphy at a Chinese traditional culture school in Beijing's Haidian district on Dec 12, 2019. The four-day Beijing International Media Forum kicked off in Beijing on Dec 10, 2019. A total of 14 representatives of 12 media outlets from 12 countries, including Brazil, Japan, Russia and Turkey, took part in the activities during the forum. [Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/chinadaily.com.cn]
Li and Meng, two senior residents in Nanyang, Central China's Henan province, show their college admission letters. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
The college admission letter sent to Li Zhixin, a senior resident in his 80s in Nanyang, Central China's Henan province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
The college admission letter sent to Meng Qingli, a senior resident in his 70s in Nanyang, Central China's Henan province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Two senior men in their 70s and 80s in Nanyang, Central China's Henan province have become the local superstars after they were admitted into a vocational college.
Li Zhixin, a senior resident in his 80s, studies for the admission test of a vocational college, in Nanyang, Central China's Henan province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Meng Qingli, a senior resident in his 70s, studies for the admission test of a vocational college, in Nanyang, Central China's Henan province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Li Zhixin and Meng Qingli, two villagers from Sanguanmiao village in Nanzhao county, took part in the college entrance examination and were admitted to Nanyang Vocational College of Agriculture.
Jia Guowen, the deputy Party secretary of the college, said that it's the first time the college has accepted senior students, and he was deeply impressed by the two men.
The Fairy Festival falls on October 15 every year according to the Tibetan calendar and involves various kinds of religious activities. [Photos/China News Service]
Liang, a 80-year-old man from Xi'an, Shaanxi province, spent over 20 years making the 200:1 miniature complex building, which includes the city's landmarks like Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, the Bell Tower and Drum Tower. Made with mortise-tenon joint structures, Liang's work consists of 100,000 parts. [Photo/China News Service]
