BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The July 7th Incident, also known as the Lugou Bridge Incident, which occurred in 1937, is recognized as the start of Japan's full-scale invasion of China, and China's whole-of-nation resistance against Japanese aggression.

The crisis awakened the Chinese nation. People set aside whatever rifts they had and pointed their guns, blades, and anything they could wield outward, fighting uncompromisingly until Japan's surrender in 1945. Over the past decades, the land has changed beyond recognition. Cities have risen, borders have shifted, generations have come and gone. Yet, the Chinese people have preserved Wanping, the old walled town, much as it was, with its shell-scarred walls standing quietly as witnesses to the past.